My Heart's Debut
by BanngBanngBanng
Summary: Vanessa's having a Debut. In other words... a big party for her 18th birthday, filipino style...LOL I promise, you'll love it. Read & review please.
1. What's that?

Okay, before I start, let me just explain a little. For those of you who know about Vanessa, she is half Filipino(I'm not sure if she's exactly half since they always mention that she's latina, chinese and all that, but what Filipino isn't? LOL) Anyways, they don't really mention it much, or give much credit to those who ARE Filipino, and are acting. They usually get Latino roles... or so the audience assumes. But whatever, so I just wanted to bring out this side of her heritage. This story is based on Vanessa's Debut, and the whole process. If you guys don't know what a Debut is, then here's a little explanation to help you understand BEFORE you read the story so that you don't get confused.

"A filipina girl of Filipino heritage, known as "The Debutante" celebrates her 18th birthday by dancing with her cotillion court of 9 teenager boys and 9 teen girls in an elegant and rehearsed Waltz dance. Another traditional dance where the Debutante shares a dance with 18 men each one offering a rose. This is The 18 Roses Dance. Another tradition during this grand celebration is the 18 Candles presentation where 18 ladies lighted 18 candles to resemble the 18 lights that will serve as guidance to the Debutante as she transition to the status of a full grown woman. These are all part of a Filipino tradition –The Debut Tradition.

The tradition for this debut started way back during the early Spaniards occupation time in the Philippines and was carried out from generation to generation in the Philippines and even those Filipinos residing abroad." (Credit to Pacific Sounds...I got that from their website. I didn't know how to explain it very well LOL.)

But yeah, they do other dances too other than the waltz and stuff. Each is different, depending on your own family traditions. Soo yeahh, there'll be a few twists to her's, but nothing major. The other HSM character's will be part of the story too! Okay, Well, ENJOY!

P.S. Sorry for any mistakes on the details about Vanessa, and all the other people. I'm not a crazed fan, and I didn't feel like tracking down the exact details. I'm not sure How she's related to Falisha, and Jayden, if they're sisters and what not. But I just made them cousins.. And not soo sure if she lives with her dad, so I just made him live in San Diego.. I read that he does though.. but who knows. yay for fanFICTION. LOL

* * *

"Nessa!" Jayden called as she walked out of the loft and down the upstairs hall.

"What is it Jay!" Vanessa called back, getting up from her bed as she was reading.

"Hey, can I borrow your laptop? Stella's on the main computer doing her homework, and I'm bored." Jayden asked walking into Vanessa's room.

"She's still doing her homework? Man, Stella needs to learn how to read faster." Vanessa said as she saw Jayden enter.

"Hey I can hear you guys, you know!" Stella yelled from her room across from Vanessa's.

"Haha, shut up Stella, you know you read slow." Vanessa laughed.

"Give me a break, I'm only ten." Stella told them.

"So can I Vanessa?" Jayden pleaded

"What about Falisha's? I already packed mine Jay." Vanessa told her.

"She's working on her online classes for college. Please Vanessa, I'm bored."

"No Jay, It's already packed. And I leave tonight, I don't want to forget it."

"Gah, fine!" Jayden pouted. "I hate how you always have to leave to go film something. Falisha and I rarely get to see you when we visit" She said taking a seat on Vanessa's queen sized bed.

"I know, but it's only for a week this time. At least we're not shooting everything for the sequel in Utah like last time. So I'm home more since it's closer.."

"Yeah, true. But you just got home two days ago!"

"Yeah, but that was from filming an episode of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. And now I have to go back to the set to film the sequel. Anyways, grab me that box on top of the other two over there," Vanessa said pointing to a box on top of two other ones.

"Geez, you're so lazy." She laughed.

"Be quiet. I work hard." Vanessa said putting the script she was studying down.

"So do I." She said handing the big box to Vanessa. But Vanessa shook her head.

"No, it's yours."

"Really? What is it?"

"Open it. I got it when I was in New York for that sing-along and dance-along thing for High School Musical a while back. I ordered them back then but they said I needed to wait a few months until I'd get them. So I got them a while ago, and I never got around to giving it to you..." She explained to her sister as she was unwrapping the brown package.

"Yeeeee, what is it! Can't you just tell me Nessa!" Jayden said excitedly

"No." She simply said. "You're almost done getting through the package wrapping anyways, I can see the box." She laughed.

"Oh. My. Gosh!" She squealed. "Ah! I love em!" She practically screamed pulling out a new pair of boots. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She said hugging Vanessa.

"You're welcome!" She smiled. "I couldn't resist, you know me and my boots. I got myself a pair, but the only difference is they have my name on the side" Vanessa said pointing to Jayden's new pair of boots where it had her name embroidered on the side.

"Wow I didn't even see that. They're so cute!" she hugged again.

"What are you guys screaming about?" Falisha appeared at the door. "I can't concentrate."

"Yeah, me too!" Stella whined appearing next to her.

"Grab those boxes right there." Vanessa said pointing to the stack of boxes left by the door. "Stella you get the smaller one." She added.

"What is it?" They asked as they reached down for the boxes.

"Just open them." She told them as they started walking towards Vanessa's bed to take a seat. Stella just decided to sit down on the carpet floor.

"Vanessa! Come downstairs!" Gina Hudgens, her mother, called.

"Coming!" She yelled, putting her script on her desk as she walked out, leaving them to open their packages, and Jayden trying on her new boots. Vanessa quickly trotted downstairs to find her mother at the kitchen table with a man, who had his back towards Vanessa.

"Yeah mom?" She walked into the kitchen.

"Hey sweetie!" Her dad turned around and got up from his seat.

"Dad!" She ran up to her father and wrapped her arms around him. "Oh my gosh, what are you doing here? I didn't even hear the front door."

"You're mom and I needed to talk, I had the day off, and I knew it was your last day before you have to go back to work for a little bit."

"Aw, thanks dad! I've missed you so much!" She pulled her father into another hug. After they let go, she turned to her mother.

"So, what is it that you wanted mom?"

"Well, your dad and I were talking about your 18th birthday." Mrs. Hudgens started.

"Okay, what about it? I mean, it's not for almost more than half a year." She said with a confused look on her face.

"We know, but we were thinking about you having a Debut. It's tradition in on my Filipino side of the family."

"But I don't get it, I don't remember Falisha having one..."

"Your Auntie asked Falisha when she turned 17, and she decided that she didn't want one." Her dad told her. "So we're asking if you wanted one."

"Well, what is it? I've never really heard of it. Or well, I have but not how Filipinos do it."

"Aye, that's what I get for not teaching you guys about your Filipino heritage." Her mother complained. "But it's like a coming out party. It's formal, you have an escort, and a court of 18 people you choose, then 18 roses, and 18 candles. The roses are guys, and the candles are the ladies. Then you perform some dances and all that."

"Ohh, sounds fun. Wonder why Falisha didn't want it." Vanessa said. Then the three heard screaming from upstairs. After a short while they heard Falisha, Jayden, and Stella running towards the stairs.

"So, did you want one? Or..." Her dad chuckled.

"Yeah! It sounds like loads of fun. But why are you guys asking me so early?"

"Because it takes time to learn all the dances and to do the planning. You'll have to choose the people on your court; 9 guys and 9 girls, most importantly your escort if you want one. Then your roses, candles..."

"Okay, okay, I get it mom" Vanessa laughed.

"Yeah, well honey, we're just telling you right now so we could start the planning as soon as possible since you have a busy schedule and all. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Hmm, yep, promise to be there daddy?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." He kissed her forehead.

"NESSA!" Falisha and Stella came screaming into the kitchen.

"What's going on?" Greg Hudgens laughed as he saw them running into the kitchen.

"DAD!" Stella shrieked "Eeeeeeek!" she rushed to hug her father. "Why are you here daddy!" Stella asked.

"Hey Uncle Greg!" Falisha and Jayden greeted.

"I came to talk to your mom about Vanessa's debut."

"Ohh, you're having one?" Falisha turned to Vanessa who nodded. "That's cool. Anyways. Thank you!" she hugged her.

"You're welcome." Vanessa barely got out as Stella came out of nowhere and hugged her as well.

"Thank you Nessa!" Stella hugged.

"You're welcome too Stella."

"What are you guys talking about?" Their mom asked.

"Look at the boots Vanessa got us mom! Their so cute! And she got them customized." Stella exclaimed.

"Yeah, I got them the same time I got that one bag for you mom, and that jacket for you dad when I went to New York a while back. It just took a while for their boots because of the embroidery, but I wasn't in town when they came in."

"Ohh." Her mother said as she examined the boots Stella showed her. "They're nice."

"You should be careful spending you money Nessa" Their dad stated.

"I am, I was being nice, and bought them a gift because I thought about them too, just as I thought of you and mom, instead of just myself." She said smiling.

"Touché ." Her dad laughed.

"Ugh, I should get back to my script." Vanessa said getting up from the table.

"It thought you guys were just learning the dances this week?" Her mom asked.

"We are, but you never know, Kenny always has surprises up his sleeves."

"Okay, we'll talk about your debut after dinner."

* * *

Soo, what do you guys think? Like it? Please Review! I'm not sure how fast i'll be updating this one since i'm still working on "The things i'd do for you". But hope you guys read that one too!Mmkay, go review, I'd like to know what you guys think about this story


	2. Interview my past

Hey guys! YAY! I'm glad to hear that you guys like my idea! HAHA. Because I love it. I'm not gonna be all "filipino" thisn"filipino" that. I don't believe in favoring one ethnicity. Just thought I'd get that out. Yes, I am full filipino (or if you guyssay filipina for girl.. same thing, i don't reallyconsider it a difference. I just say filipino.)myself. Soo yeah, i've got the big family, and all. LOL, and i've been to a buttload of debuts, & they're hella fun.. For those of you who still don't get it, this is basically a BIG 18th birthday celebration/party thing. LOL. Anyways, hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

AFTER DINNER.

"So what time are you leaving tomorrow?" Mr. Hudgens asked Vanessa while they were sitting on the couch, watching the news.

"Uhm, we don't have to be there by 10, but I'm meeting Ashley at her place around 8. So I should be out the door by 7:30 in the morning."

"Geez, you're so young, and yet you work so hard." Her dad turned to face her.

"Yeah, but I love what I do, and--"

"I know, I know, 'do what I love.'" Her dad finished for her.

"Exactly, daddy." She smiled.

"It's just, you're already 17, planning your 18th birthday, but you'll always be my little girl." He said kissing her forehead.

"Hey! What about me?" Stella asked from the other couch.

"Yes, you too my little stellar girl." He chuckled.

"So, mom, what's first on the planning?" Vanessa asked her mom, who was on the other couch with Falisha and Jayden.

"Well, you need to start looking for your court. And I'll start looking for a nice place to have it."

"Mmkay, how many people again?" Vanessa asked, scratching her head.

"Aye Vanessa." Her mom shook her head.

"I'm kidding mom!" Vanessa laughed. "9 guys and 9 girls right?" She asked just to make sure.

"Yes." Her mom nodded.

"Oh, can't forget about an escort Nessa!" Falisha reminded.

"Ohhhh, an escort." Jayden said. "Who's the lucky guy Ness?"

"I dunno." She shrugged. "Do I have to have one?"

"Well, no, only if you want one." Her dad informed. "But sometimes it looks nice if you have one, since everyone else on your court is paired up."

"Okay, if I find one then I'll have one. I'll make a list of my court while I'm at work."

"Where did you want it? Any place particular?" Her dad asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, your mom and I were talking, and we decided that you can choose where you want it... and we'll find a hall in that area."

"Oh. Hmm, well, as much as I love LA, I want to have it in San Diego if it's alright with you. I want to make sure you're there dad."

"Don't worry about it hun, I'll be there." He smiled. "Are you sure you don't want it here in LA, since most of your friends are here?"

"Good point... I dunno. Can you guys just look at halls here and there? Then I'll choose which one I like best."

"Sounds good to me." Her dad said. "What do you think Gina?"

"Alright. Gives us chance to find a another place, in case one is booked already."

"NESSA! LOOK IT'S YOU!" Stella screamed.

"What?" Everyone said together and looked at the TV screen to see Vanessa doing an interview when she was younger(a/n: Totally made up interview. LOL. Just to let you guys know..)

"_So how did you like the first show?" A reporter for a news channel asked._

"_I liked it a lot. It was so much fun!" A younger Vanessa said into the microphone held in front of her._

"_How about the cast?" The reporter asked._

"_Oh, they're great too. They're all really, really, really, nice, and I think all the hard work we put into the rehearsals is paying off." _

"_Haha, well that's good to hear. You're such a young, beautiful, talented girl, do you see yourself making acting as a career later in your life?" The reporter asked._

"_Thank you. Uhm, yeah. I mean, I love acting, dancing, and singing!"_

"_Well there you have it folks, little Cindy Loo, played by the adorable, Vanessa Anne Hudgens. We'll have more with Vanessa later, but back to you guys in the studio." The reporter said._

"And that was a video clip our sister station did a few years back in San Diego, California, of the one of the rising stars from the new hit Disney channel movie, High School Musical, our very own local Vanessa Anne Hudgens.." The anchor man, Dave, said, placing papers down in front of him.

"Well, wasn't that cute." His co-anchor, Jessie(a/n: It's a woman. LOL), said. "She's such a talented actress, and considered to be a 'Triple Threat' as many are calling Vanessa. Hopefully we'll see more of her on the screen and hear her music, since she's working on her own music as well. You know it's not really considered 'new' since the movie has been out for months now, but kids are still crazy about it like it came out yesterday!"

"I know what you mean, my daughter is still fussing over Zac Efron."

"But you gotta admit, the movie is pretty outstanding."

"Yes, it was. I mean hey, I love the movie myself! Speaking of Zac Efron, we have him on the show tonight as a surprise guest. Let's bring him out shall we. Ladies and gentlemen, viewers at home, Zac Efron" He introduced as Zac came out and took a seat behind the desk after shaking hands with everyone.

"Wow, I didn't know Zac was doing an interview with the news today." Vanessa said as she shifted around on the couch. Everyone else in the room was quiet, trying to watch.

"Hey, Zac, thanks for joining us tonight."

"Oh, well I'm glad to be here, thanks for having me." Zac laughed.

"So, what did you think of that little clip we just had of Vanessa?" Jessie asked.

"Oh, man," Zac chuckled. "I mean what else is there to say? It was adorable. She still has the same warm-hearted personality." Zac smiled. "I didn't have the opportunity to watch that play, back then, but I'm pretty sure that she's grown as an actress since then. She's really talented, I'm surprised that this movie gave her her huge break. I mean, you would've thought that with her talents it would've been a while ago.

"Now we know Vanessa, obviously, has been acting for a while now, but how about you?" Dave asked.

"Uhm, I've been acting for a while now. You know, I started out the same, doing local plays, and musicals, then movies, and shows, and so on." Zac said with hand motions.

"Now, we hear there's going to be a High School Musical sequel, is that right?" Jessie asked

"Yes. There actually, is indeed going to be a sequel to High School Musical. I'm not aloud to give out what's going to happen yet except for what was already released."

"Yep. And for those of you who don't know what that is, the sequel to High School Musical is said to be taking place during the kid's summer vacation." Dave said.

"That's right." Zac nodded his head. "We're actually going to be working on it soon."

"Alright, so tell us, what's a young actor like you, doing thinking about these days? What kinds of things have you been up to lately?"

"Just the usual actually. I mean, many people think 'Oh, he's an actor, he must be stuck up, selfish, rich, and all that' you know? But I'm really not. I don't think I know any actors like that. I just like to try and be a normal kid. I go to school when I can, if not, I do it online, I watch movies, spend time with my family, hang out with friends, listen to music, play sports. All that good stuff when I have the time... But right now I haven't had the chance to do a lot of that because of all the promoting for the movie still, school, and stuff."

"See folks, they're just normal teens." Jessie laughed.

"So how often do you 'go to school?'"

"Uhm, well, I don't necessarily go to a school and sit in a desk, usually it's online from a set, or at home. But when I get the chance I do try and go to school when I'm home. Hopefully, if I am home around the time, I'll be able to graduate with my fellow classmates this year."

"So, have you been planning on college?"

"Of course, education is important to me. I don't expect to get by just by acting for the rest of my life. I never know when I'll get the job after an audition, so I do plan on furthering my education."

"That's a wise decision. So what do you plan on majoring in?"

"Uhm, I definitely want to stay in this business. There's so much to it, it never gets boring, it's constantly changing, so I'm thinking about majoring in filming. It's a challenge because you'll always have to find a way to connect with your audience in some catchy way, and I think that the challenge is, um, something that I'm willing to take on."

"Well, that's all we have time for, this hour. Thanks again for joining us tonight Zac, it was a pleasure having you here tonight."

"The pleasure was all mine" Zac said as he shook their hands.

"Join us in our next hour segment, here on channel 8, at 12. Good night everyone."

"Night!" Jessie waved with Zac.

"Wow. I soo forgot about that interview." Vanessa said, putting her hand on her forehead.

"That was long ago." Her dad said smiling. "What was that? '99?"

"Somewhere around there." Gina nodded.

"Are you _really, really, really _sure you didn't remember?" Falisha joked as Jayden and Stella laughed.

"Shut up guys! I'll take those boots back" Vanessa said, throwing a pillow at each of them.

"Girls." Mrs. Hudgens said.

"Okay, okay, sorry Nessa." Falisha said with her hands up in the air, surrendering.

"Yeah, sorry Nessa" Jayden and Stella said together.

"You girls just don't know when to stop having fun do you?" Mr. Hudgens laughed.

gWell, I'm going to bed, it's getting late. I still need to get up early. Night everyone. I'll see you guys in the morning before I leave."

"Yeah, we should get going to bed too." Falisha suggested. Everyone else said their goodnight's and went off to bed while Gina and Greg finished talking and watched the news.

Just as Vanessa was getting into bed, her phone started to beep.

* * *

Hehe, Cindy Loo. I remember watching her in that play! Geez, I was soo jealous, because she made me want to act. But i'm a shy person. LOL.Soo, who's calling? Dun Dun Dun.Anyways, REVIEW PLEASE!


	3. Driving phone calls

Hey guys! Well, I finished this chapter yesterday, but it was late, so I was too tired to post it. LOL. And I was gonna post it earlier today, but then I started adding more to it. ;PEnjoy!

* * *

"Who's texting me now?" She muttered, grabbing her sidekick off her nightstand. She opened the message and read it.

"Hey! Haha. I saw your old interview on the news tonight." The text message read.

"Haha, Marc..." She said giggling shaking her head. Marc was one of her close friends(a/n: Totally made up character.. LOL.)

"Yeah, embarassing years..." She texted back, and waited for a reply.

"Pssh, what are you talking about? I met you back then!" Marc repled

"So, that's why it's so embarassing, we were friends back then! LOL." She texted.

"Shut up! You wouldn't know what to do in life if you hadn't met me."

"Hmm, actually.."

"Ouch. Nessa, that hurts."

"LOL! You know I'm kidding! You know I love you. Anyways, I need to sleep, TTYL!" She texted, put her phone back on her nightstand, and made sure her alarm was set before she shut her eyes.

* * *

BEEP BEEP BEEP Vanessa phone went off from under her pillow. She had woke up in the middle of the night to answer a phone call just in case if it was important, but the caller ended up having the wrong number, so she sleepily just stuffed her phone under her pillow as she dozed off back to sleep.

"Mmmmm." She groaned, turning off her phone, scrunching her face up. "I'll get up in 10 minutes." she mumbled to herself, rolling over in bed. Five minutes later was 5:01am.

"Good morning, to all of you early starters! It's two minutes after 5, and many of you are driving to work, or just getting up. Today's weather will be surely--" Her stereo went off as an alarm, playing the radio.

"Ugh, shut up!" Vanessa snapped, grabbing her stereo remote, and turning it off.

"I said 10 more minutes." She said groggily putting her head back on her pillow.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP. BEEP BEEP BEEP." Her alarm clock went off at 5:05am.

"Grrrr. Alright! I'm awake!" She said turning her alarm off and sat up in her bed. She sat there for a minute trying to focus her blurry eyes, and brushing her hair out of her face with her hands.

"My room so hates me. I never get to sleep in a few extra minutes when I have to work." She complained to herself, as she got out of bed and went into her bathroom to shower. After she showered and got ready, she made sure she had everything packed in her suitcase, and purse. By the time she was done, it was about 6:30, so she went downstairs to eat breakfast. When she got downstairs, she saw everyone in the kitchen preparing breakfast.

"Morning." Vanessa greeted.

"Morning." Everyone said

"Why are all of you up already?" Vanessa asked with a confused look on her face.

"Ahem, your alarms, Ness." Falisha coughed, then laughed.

"Yeah, that, and I have school today." Jayden added.

"I just woke up because I heard everyone else moving around the house." Stella said taking a drink from her cup of orange juice.

"Your mom and I wanted to make sure we were awake before you left. So we got up and made sure you had something to eat." Her dad told her as he set the food on the table.

"Thanks." Vanessa said, pulling a water bottle out of the fridge then sat at the table. They all ate breakfast until Falisha, Jayden, and Stella were going to leave.

"Well, I we better get going..." Jayden said. "Since Falisha drives sooo slow."

"Shutup. At least I drive you to school."

"Haha, you guys never stop." Vanessa said, putting her dishes in the sink. "Stella you're going too?"

"Yep. Sha and I are going shopping before she has class, and then drop me off on her way to school."

"Earlybird specials at our favorite stores today!" Falisha squeeled.

"What? Without me?" Vanessa whined.

"Hey, not my fault you have work."

"Man, no fair. I hate the sacrifices sometimes..."

"Yeah, but it all pays off in the end." Her dad reminded her. "You girls have fun, I'll see you soon hun." Her dad said giving her a hug goodbye.

"Yep. I better see you soon." Vanessa hugged. "Bye Mom." She said walking over to her mother to hug her.

"Bye sweetie. Don't forget to call when you get in."

"I wont. Later Sissy Face." Vanessa hugged Stella. "Buy me something cute while you're shopping." She winked as they let go.

"Of course... When do I never?"

"Uh... never."

"Not true!"

"I know, I'm kidding. That's why you're my favorite sister."

"I have to be, I am your only sister. And plus, I always buy you stuff since you buy me stuff, duh!"

"Thanks Stell. Bye Jay." She hugged. "Have fun at school."

"Bye Ness. We better see more of you when you come back."

"Fasho. Haha, since Stell and Sha are going shopping today, it's just me and you when I get back. Deal?"

"Deal!"

"Hey, no fair!" Falisha said.

"Yes it is." Vanessa laughed. "Bye Sha." She hugged

"Fine, only because you bought me those cute boots. Bye Nessa."

"Well, you three need to get going." Vanessa reminded. "You're gonna be late Jay."

"Oh! Right!" Jayden said.

"I'll call you guys later." Vanessa said.

"Bye!" Stella, Falisha, and Jayden called from the front door.

"Bye"

"Well, I guess I better be off too. Bye Mom, Dad." She hugged them once more. "I'll call you guys later too."

"Be safe hun." Her dad smiled.

"You have a safe trip home too dad!" And then she left her house to go put her things in her car, then drove off to Ashley's place. Her cell phone started to ring as she was driving, so she answered it, putting it on speaker phone, without looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Hey! Rise and shine!" A energetic voice said from the other end.

"I've been up for a while, you know that right Ash?" Vanessa laughed.

"I know. I'm just a morning person. So, when are you gonna get here?"

"You're an all-day person." Vanessa laughed. "Uhm, I should be there in about 5 minutes."

"Great! I'll see you in a bit."

"Mmmkay, bye."

"Bye." She hung up and continued driving. She turned up her radio, and heard a song from High School Musical playing.

"Oh my goodness. They play this on this station?" She laughed, and sang along to The Start Of Something New. Then her phone started to ring a few seconds after Zac finished his first verse of the song, so she turned down the radio again, and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey Hudgens."

"What's up Efron?" She laughed.

"Oh, nothing much. I'm just bored at the hotel. Hey is that..." He paused. "Aww, you miss me so much that you're listening to our song." He laughed.

"In your dreams..." She laughed.

"Ouch. Burn."

"I'm just kidding. It's playing on the radio... which is weird because usually it's like R&B and rap and all that."

"Hah, well the movie is still becoming popular."

"I guess. Anyways, you're there already?"

"Yep, got here last night, and I can't really sleep, so I thought I'd call a few people. Ash's line was busy, so I called you."

"Yeah. I was just talking to her. I'm actually on my way to her place right now."

"That's cool."

"Hey, I saw you on the news last night. I didn't know you were gonna be on."

"Hah, yeah, neither did I. I thought we were just gonna go to the hotel until my manager forgot to mention to me that I had an interview."

"I see. That sucks."

"Yeah, in a way, but I got to watch that oldschool interview of yours." He laughed.

"Shutup." She smiled.

"What? It was cute."

"That was so long ago, I can't believe they showed that." Zac just laughed on the other end.

"Yeah well, I gotta go, I'm driving." She laughed. "And, I'm pulling into Ash's place."

"Hah, do you see her running out to your car yet?" He laughed.

"Just because you do that when I drive over to your place, doesn't mean everyone does it to me."

"I only do it for fun."

"Right." She rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I just do it because I'm bored."

"Thought so. Anyways, I'll call you later when we're close by... then you can run out to both me and Ash." She laughed.

"Alright. Later alligator."

"Later Zaccy." Vanessa said, and hung up her phone just as she pulled up to the curb. She got out, locked her door, and walked up to Ashley's apartment.

"Nessa!" She hugged her, after opening the door before Vanessa even knocked.

"Hey Ash!" She hugged back.

"Want anything to drink?" Ashley offered as Nessa walked in and took a seat on the couch.

"Nah, I'm good. We should get going though before we hit traffic."

"Yeah, you're right. Let me get my stuff to bring down to your car."

"Alright. Hey, I'm gonna grab a few water bottles for the ride."

"Go ahead." Ashley called from her bedroom, as she was dragging her suitcase out.

"Alright, I'm all set."

"Great, let's go." They finished putting Ashley's things in the trunk, then they drove off.

After singing along to a few songs on the radio, they turned it off since there was nothing good to listen to, and started to talk instead.

"Oh, Ash, I want you to be part of my debut." Vanessa said, keeping her eyes on the road.

"I don't get it, what are you going to debut? You're already out in the open as an actress." Ashley started, and Vanessa just giggled.

"Not that kind. I meant a debut. It's a Filipino tradition in my family. My parents just asked me last night if I wanted one, and I said yes. So I have to start looking for people to be in my court, and all that jazz."

"Oh! I've been to one before! Or well, actually two. It was pretty fun."

"Really? I've never even been to one." Vanessa said. "And I'm Filipino." She laughed.

"You're half aren't you?"

"Yep."

"Just checking."

"So, what's it like... or the ones you've been to?" Vanessa asked.

"Hmm, well, this was like a few years back, but it was loads of fun. There's the dancing, and the cake and everything."

"What about the court?"

"Well, one of my friends had a court, and the other one didn't. They were really different in a way, yet so similar. The one that didn't have a court had a bunch of surprise dance performances from friends and family, then her friends and family did little cute speeches, this cute video thing that some people put together of her, dinner, and everyone danced the rest of the night." Ashley explained.

"What about the one with the court?"

"Oh, that was even more fun. She had everything that the other one had, but she and her court did some dance performances for everyone else."

"That's cool." Vanessa said, imagining it.

"Yeah, so you're really having one?"

"Yep. So would you be part of my court?"

"Of course! Oh my goodness, I never thought I'd actually be in one." She squeeled.

"Yeah, well, I still need to find more people for the rest of my court, the colors scheme, an escort if I want one,---" She listed, but was cut off by Ashley.

"Ohhh, an escort! Who are you gonna have as an escort!" Ashley asked excitedly.

"Well, I haven't really thought of anyone yet really. I'm not even sure if I'm gonna have one, but my parents said that it looks nicer since everyone in the court has a partner." Vanessa explained, and Ashley nodded her head.

"So who else is in your court?" Ashley asked.

"Well, so far it's you. and Falisha. Which reminds me that I forgot to tell her, but I'm pretty sure she'll say yes. Jayden and Stella are kinda too young I think, so they're gonna be candles."

"Aww, I haven't seen any of them in so long! I can't wait!"

"Yeah, me either."

"So no guys chosen yet?"

"Nope."

"Good, because you better make my partner the hottest guy there." She joked.

"Haha, we'll see. I'm gonna ask Zac, Lucas, Corbin, and Monique when we see them later. So that makes it 6 more girls to choose, and 6 more guys."

"Possibly 7."

"Possibly." Vanessa nodded.

"Wow, this is gonna be so much fun."

"And yet soo stressful."

* * *

So what do you guys think? LOL. Well, more people are popping up into the story, soo it'll get better. Thanks to those of you who review! It helps. Well, anyways, if you guys haven't already, go check out my other stories "Denial & Admitting" annd the sequel to that, "The Things I'd Do For you". Mmmmkay, don't forget to review! Okay, i'm gonna go work on the next chapter. Byeeee.


	4. Let me know, It's killing me

Hey guys! Well, sorry for the longer-than-usual wait. LOL, I normally update one story, then the other the next day, but i've been busy with other things. Sooo yeah. I'm supposed to be going to the computer lab to work on a project for two hours tomorrow since the scheduel is changed for that day, soo maybe i'll try to do both chapters in class tomorrow instead of my project and just work on my project over the weekend and next week since it's not due for a while. Anyways, enought of my rambling.. on with the story..

OH! and to answer whoever asked(i forgot who, SORRY!), but they asked if this was a "Zanessa" story.. I'm actually not sure yet. LOL. But we'll see where this flows. Okay, ENJOY!

* * *

"Geez, are we there yet!" Ashley asked, growing impatient.

"No? Haha."

"Ugh. You got me all excited, and now I'm all impatient."

"Chill Ash, we'll be there in like 20 minutes." Vanessa laughed.

"Gah."

"Hey, at least you're not driving. Remind me again why I'm driving?"

"Because you're cool like that." Ashley laughed.

"But you're older!"

"So, you're younger, you'll live longer. Since I'm older, I'm the one with a better chance of dying out of thin air."

"What the heck? Ash, you're not even that old."

"I know." She laughed.

"No really, why am I driving?" Vanessa asked.

"I don't know." Ashley shrugged.

"Fine. You're so driving on the way back home."

"Maybe."

"No, not maybe. Yes."

"But I don't want to." Ashley said, pouting like a 5 year old.

"Why didn't we just get a driver, like everyone else got, and Kenny offered?"

"Hmm, because last time we wanted to stay longer so we could do more shopping, but the drivers couldn't stay because they had to be somewhere... so here we are." Ashley smiled.

"Well, then we do some good shopping before this week is over." Vanessa laughed, and Ashley nodded.

"Are we there yet!" Ashley asked after a few minutes of silence between the two, and the radio playing.

"Nope. Almost." Vanessa simply stated.

"Ugh."

"Here." Vanessa said handing Ashley her phone. "Call Zac. I told him we'd call when we were almost there... we're like 5 minutes away, so that should keep you occupied." She laughed.

"Hmm, okay." She shrugged, and dialed Zac's number.

* * *

Zac was sleeping in his hotel room. He finally fell asleep after his phone call with Vanessa earlier. His cell phone started to play the ringtone Vanessa had set on his phone the last time they saw each other, slightly waking him.

"Yo Nessa!" He said, energized, yet his voice still groggily. Ashley covered the reciever and laughed a little, then turned to Vanessa.

"Yo Nessa!" She mocked, laughing, "Does he always answer like that when you call?" Vanessa just laughed and shook her head.

"He was probably asleep, that's the only time he answered the phone like that when I called." She said, as Ashley nodded.

"Hello? Nessa?" Zac said on the other end.

"You wish! Efron. Ahem! Ahem!" She coughed.

"Ash! What the heck are you doing with Nessa's phone? And shut up about that!" Zac said, becoming fully awake.

"Oh hush Zac, you know I wouldn't."

"You wouldn't what?" Vanessa asked, as she heard Ashely talk to Zac on the phone. But Ashley just shook her head, and slightly held her hand up to Vanessa. Vanessa just shrugged and continued to focus on the road.

"Yeah, I guess I trust you." Zac said.

"What do you mean you guess! Ouch. That hurt Zac, that hurt." She said

"You're so dramatic." Zac said, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, it's what I get paid for. Just being professional." She giggled.

"Right... So, why are you calling me from Nessa's phone?"

"Oh, right, I forgot you asked that..."

"Well?" He chuckled.

"Nessa said to call you." She shrugged. "I was getting too impatient here in the car."

"Figures." He laughed.

"Shut up." Ashley spat.

"Ash, I told you to call him to say we're almost there, since I told him I would tell him when we were." Vanessa said.

"What? That was really confusing, especially being on the phone at the same time."

"Ugh. Just tell him we're about to pull up."

"Really!" Ashely asked, forgetting she was on the phone. "Oh, Nessa says we're about to pull up."

"Alright cool, I'll meet you guys down in the lobby while you guys check in then."

"Mmmkay."

"Bye."

"Bye." She said, hanging up. "Zac's gonna meet us in the lobby." She informed Vanessa.

* * *

The girls got out, as they handed the keys over to valet parking, and had their bags brought in. They walked up to the V.I.P. Check-in room, and got their room keys, and stuffed brought up to their room so it would be there when they arrived at the room. Once they were finished, they walked out of the room, and saw Zac heading their way.

"Hey!" Zac waved, and started jogging over to the two girls.

"Zaccy Bear!" They both cried, giggling.

"Aww, I haven't seen you two in forever."

"Yeah, well maybe you should guest-star with Monique and I on the Suite Life." Vanessa hugged him.

"I know huh? Instead, I had to work with the hardest co-star ever." Zac said referring to Ashley.

"Ahem! Hello! I am not!" Ashley complained.

"Geez, chill Ash, you know I'm playing." He said, embracing her into a hug.

"You better."

"So, Zac, what have you been up to, other than showing up on my TV last night?" Vanessa laughed.

"Oh, just the usual, premieres, interviews, family time, and all that. Trying to squeeze in as much as I could since they gave us a break from all the High School Musical promoting."

"Yep, same here, other than recording the Suite Life..." Ashley said nodding, making their way to the elevator.

"So, Ness, how about you?" Zac asked, pushing the button as they waited for the elevator.

"You know, same as you guys basically. Oh, I've been recording too! Hah, sorry Ash, I forgot to mention that to you..."

"Sounds great." Zac smiled.

"Wow, when have you been going! I've been with you loads of times over the past few weeks." Ashley said in shock.

"Late nights." Vanessa shrugged, stepping into the elevator with the two. "Haven't been getting much sleep, but I'm slightly used to it now."

"Well, next time you're gonna have to invite us to the recording studio. But anyways, you're sleeping habits are about to change." Zac said, as the elevator doors opened, revealing a hallway to their rooms.

"What?" Vanessa asked, confused, making their way towards their suite.

"Come on, your guys' room is right next to mine." He said, leading the way.

"Yes sir Captain." Ashley joked. They made their way to the girls room and stepped inside.

"Come on Ness, straight to bed! I know you drove since Ash was the one who called me." He laughed.

"I know, Ash, you're so driving next time..."

"Move it! We'll wake you up an hour before dinner. Kenny doesn't have anything planned for today, so we get an off day. Everyone isn't arriving till tomorrow anyways."

"Fine." Vanessa pouted, then took out her pajama's from her bag, slipped into the room, changed, and quickly fell asleep."

* * *

"Geez, Zac, so caring. What about my sleeping hours?" Ashley laughed.

"You get enough sleep. I think that's why you're an overall day person. You're never down." He laughed.

"Well, I just know how to conserve my body's energy." She stuck her tongue out.

"C'mon, let's go to my room, so we don't wake her." He said walking out, into the suite next door.

"Ah, so you have a single suite, eh?" Ashley said as she first walked into the room.

"Nope, this room just looks different. The other room is over there." He said pointing to the other end of the suite, taking a seat in the living room. "I'm not assigned a roommate though." He shrugged, turning on the TV.

"Interesting. So, spill."

"What?" Zac said, looking at her.

"When are you gonna ask Nessa out?" She practically yelled.

"Shhh. I don't know. She doesn't seem interested, I think she see's us as friends and nothing more." Zac said, turnning his attention back to the TV.

"Oh."

"Why, she say anything to you?"

"Like I'm gonna tell you!" Ashley laughed. "I keep my promises, unless it's totally necessary to let them out."

"C'mon Ash!" He pleaded. "Tell me what she said!"

"No. For all you know, she could've said nothing." She said, keeping a straight face on, watching MTV.

"Ash!"

"No, Zac."

"Ash!"

"Efron, shut it! You'll wake her up."

"Fine." He pouted.

"Don't even pull that face on me... it wont work." Ashley said. Zac just kept his face on. "Zac stop!"

"No, not until I find out."

"Zaaccc, don't do this to me."

"Oh, but I can."

"Fine, I'll be in my room before I say anything." She said leaving. Zac quickly turned off the TV, and jumped up.

"Noo!" He whispered as he followed her into her room.

"I think I'll take a nap." Ashley suggested to herself as if he wasn't there, walking into her separate room of the suite.

"Fine, I guess I'll stay and watch TV in here until you two wake up." He said to himself, since no one else was in the living room.

* * *

LALALA, soo if you guys did catch it, he has a crush on her. LOL. but like i said up top, i'm not sure if something is gonna happen. Weee, REVIEW PLEASE! Hopefully, I'll be able to update both stories tomorrow, if not, then it'll be the other one. Aiight Byyyeee.


	5. Wakey Wakey

AHHHH! I'm soo sorry it took soo long to update this one! Err, I've been too busy, but yeahh, hopefully I'll get back to my everyday updating routine. LOL. Well, I kinda liked this chapter... Kinda got it from something that happened at a sleep over when we tried to wake up my friends. LOL. Well ENJOY!

* * *

Zac set an alarm on his phone, just in case he fell asleep in front of the TV, which he did.He knew the first alarm wouldn't wake him, so he put another on just in case.His phone started to vibrate in his pocket, waking him up. He rubbed his eyes to help focus his vision, and turned off the TV which was still on. He stretched his arms and legs out as he yawned, then finally got up, walking over to Vanessa's bedroom of the suite. After quietly knocking, there was no response, so he slowly, opened the door, and peeked in.

"Nessa, you awake?" He whispered, unable to find her visible.

"Nessssssssssaaaa..." He whispered longer, but just as soft. Still no response, so he crept into her room, slowly closing the door behind him.

_Where is she? _He thought to himself, scratching his head while he was standing next to he door. He looked around and saw her suit case open, clothes tossed around inside, her sheets and blanket ruffled, and the bathroom door wide open, meaning it was empty inside. _Hmmm. _He thought.

Zac slowly crept forward, trying to make a sound, getting closer to her bed. He could see the blankets slightly rising, then falling back. It was such a slight movement, which is why he couldn't see it from the door way.

_Bingo. _He smiled. _Geez she's a deep sleeper. _He laughed to himself on the inside. Then he looked at the clock, he needed to wake her and Ashley up so that they could get going.

_But how? _He thought. Slowly, he snatched the covers off of her, assuming it would wake her, like it does when his mother does it. Nope. Vanessa just turned around and faced the other way, towards where Zac was standing. Vanessa was rolled up in a ball, wearing her pajama's and a shirt, still asleep.

_Are you serious? I always wake up when mom does that! Ugggh, Ness..._

He thought some more, then walked into the bathroom and pulled a small piece of tissue out. He walked back to Vanessa. _Not much of a feather, but close enough. _He shrugged. He began to lightly brush the small tissue against her cheek since she wrapped her body within the sheets while he was in the bathroom.

"Mmmmmmmmm..." She groaned, scrunching her nose, making Zac laugh a little.

"Wakey Wakey!" Zac said. She didn't answer, so he burshed the tissue against her cheek again.

"Stop, I already like someone!" She mumbled. "I have a boyfriend..." She said, trying to slap the tissue as he brushed her face.

"What the?" Zac whispered. _Is she dreaming, or is that really true? Okay, I think I should just wake her up, or should I.._

"Zac.." She mumbled.

_What! She better not be playing with me... _He thought. He felt awkward listening to her mumble words as she slept, so he just decided to shake her a wake.

"Nessa, c'mon, time to get up, we're going out to dinner remember?" He said, shaking her body a little.

"Hmmmm? Zac? 5 more minutes..." Vanessa said, beginning to wake.

"No, I already gave you an extra 15 since I woke up late." He said, sitting next to her lazy body.

"Ugh, you're just like my alarm clocks at home, never letting me sleep when I want to."

"Well, you're a growing girl, and I'm a growing boy, and us growing kids gotta eat too you know."

"But I'm tired Zac." She whined, the covers off her face, and pulling the hair out of her face as well.

"Yep, I know, but I'll make sure you go to bed early again."

"Ugh, fine, I'll get ready." She said, pulling the sheets off of her. "Where's my blanket?" She asked, sitting up in the bed next to him.

"Oh, it's on the floor." He chuckled. "I tried to wake you up like my mom does, but it doesn't seem to work with you."

"Yeah, I'm a deep sleeper..." She blushed.

"Well, you're tired too." Zac added.

"I guess" She shrugged.

"Well, my sleepy head, other than a deep sleeper, did you know you talk in your sleep?" He smiled.

"What? Are you serious?"

"Yep." He nodded.

"Really? Wow, what did I say?"

"That, I guess, you'll never know... Since you're the one doing the talking and the sleeping and all." He laughed.

"C'mon, tell me!"

"Nope. It's more fun my way." He smiled playfully.

"Fine. Was it something bad at least?"

"Do you think it was something bad? Have a nightmare or something?"

"No. You just never know."

"Well, I in this case do know. And no, don't worry, it wasn't anything bad." He reassured her.

"Then why can't I know?"

"Because, it's your punishment for waking up 15 minutes late."

"Hey! But you said you were the one who woke up 15 minutes late!"

"So, you should've woke me up then." He laughed.

"But I was sleeping!"

"Hmm, shame isn't it."

"Ughh. I hate you, Zac."

"You know you love me."

"Like the Zaccy Bear you are..."

"Exactly." He smiled. "Well, I guess I should go find a fun way to wake up Ash, she fell asleep too."

"Ohh! I want to help!" She said excitedly. "Just let me change really quick."

"Alright, I'll be outside then." He said, getting up and walking out of her bedroom.

"I wonder what she was dreaming about then..." Zac said quietly.

"Okay, I'm ready." Vanessa said a few minutes later.

"Wow, that was fast." He said, looking her over. She was dressed as if she had taken the several hours most girls took. But then again, she was already naturally beautiful. She had on a light blue halter top, light torn jeans, white sandals in her hands, a white wooden bracelet, her big heart locket hanging from around her neck, a white ribbon as a headband in her hair, and a pair of sun glasses sitting on top of her head. "You look great! Most girls take hours to get that kind of look."

"Well, I'm not like other girls then."

"Nope."

"Pshh, I'm like no other."

"Certainly not." He laughed. "Now, on to mission: wake Ash." He called it

"Dun dun dun." She laughed playfully.

"Hey, I'm a guy... this is what we do."

"Obviously." She said rolling her eyes. "Sorry pro."

"Of course I am... wait. Hey!"

"Haha! So that means you play too much, eh?" She laughed.

"No.. I thought."

"C'mon Agent Zac."

"Only if you're my partner in crime."

"Fine.. I'll play."

"Yay!" He cheered jumping around like a 5 year old boy.

"Weirdo."

"Haha, okay, I was just kidding, let's go." He said opening Ashley's bedroom door.

"Ash!" He whispered. No response like Vanessa.

"Why don't you poke your head in?" Vanessa asked from behind him.

"Because! You never know, she could be changing or something..."

"Nope. Ash and I always change in the bathrooms just to be on the safe side." She informed.

"Oh."

"Why, you just change in the middle of your room?" She asked.

"No." He objected. Vanessa just gave him a look. "Fine. Sometimes. Now stop giving me that look."

"Why? It's like my super powers."

"Exactly... You always have a way to get things out of someone." He said.

"Fine. Let's just wake her up." She said as her stomach growled. "Heh." She blushed.

"I see some one is hungry..." Zac said, just before his growled even louder.

"Haha, I guess we both are. C'mon, or else I'm leaving the both of you."

"Okay, okay." Zac said, opening the door to find Ashley asleep.

"Hey Ash, wake up!" Vanessa said loudly, causing Ashley to stir and sit up quickly with a gasp.

"What the." She said. Zac stood there at the end of her bed and gave her a sheepish smile and waved.

"See, that wasn't so hard." Vanessa simply said. "Ash, let's go get dinner, I'm hungry."

"Well, you killed the fun. Some agent you are." Zac said folding his arms and pouting.

"Alright, just let me put my jeans on, and fix my hair and make-up really quick." Ashley said getting out of bed.

"Okay, we'll wait outside." Zac said walking out.

"Yep." Vanessa agreed following Zac.

"She better be as fast as you." Zac said after his stomach growled again.

"Knowing Ash, it may be a while." Vanessa laughed, then her stomach growled louder. "Ash! Hurry, or else my stomach will cause an earthquake with its growling... not to mention, add Zac's to that!" She laughed

"Hey, yours is the one growling louder."

"Yeah, but you're the guy, so that means you probably ate right before Ash and I arrived."

"So."

"So, you ate more today! I just had breakfast."

"Aww, poor Ness, she isn't getting her daily meals."

"That's because you eat everything." She laughed. Zac gasped, and put his hand over his chest and his jaw dropped.

"Are you calling me fat?" He said overly dramatic. It was obvious to Vanessa that he was playing around.

"You know it."

"Burn."

"Shut up you guys... neither of you are fat." Ashley stated as she walked out, laughing. "Let's get going."

"Alrighty, I'll be right back, I'm gonna change my shirt really quick."

"Alright." Both girls said in unison, following Zac out the door into his suite.

As they were waiting, Ashley gave Vanessa a look saying "Sliiick one Ness." Vanessa just looked at her confused and mouthed "what?"

Ashley nudged her head towards Zac's room, and mouthed "you and Zac", while point her finger at Vanessa.

"What? No." Vanessa responded. "Wrong idea, girl."

"I see what I see."

"Well, your vision must've been blurry from when you woke up still."

"Hmm, by blurry does that mean.."

* * *

Dun Dun Dun. Sorry folks, I just had to cut it off there. Haha, It'll make it easier for me to continue it. Well, what did you think?More characters, and debut talk in the next chapter, so don't worry. I just wanted this chapter to be mostly Vanessa and Zac talking since the last one was him and Ashley. Well, REVIEWS would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a bunch guys! Okay, I'm off to write the next chapter for The Things I'd Do For You. OHHH. I GOT THE HSM DVD & SPECIAL EDITION SOUNDTRACK! Ahhh, I love it. HAHA. Okay, I got excited, sorry... byee!


	6. Sleepover

Hey guys! I'm really glad to hear that a lot of you guys like my story! YEEEEEEE. Anyways, sorry it's taking a while. I think this story is almost 7chapters, and it's only been like what? three days or so in the story? LOL. Well, once I get everything, It'll get closer to the Debut part.

Alright, just wanted to do a quick thing before I let you guys go on. For those of you who don't know the actor's names, I'll lay them out for you. You already know Zac, Vanessa, Ashley, and Lucas. Monique plays Taylor. Chris plays Zeke. Olesya plays Kelsie. Corbin plays Chad. & Ryne plays Jason.

Okie dokes. ENJOY!

* * *

"You know, like when you first wake up, it's hard to see clear?" Vanessa tried to explain.

"Yes, but you could mean that I'm right."

"What?"

"Well, when you wake up, you _do _have a blurred vision, but that doesn't mean that you still can't see, or at least get an idea of what you're seeing."

"Shut up already." Vanessa said.

"Geez, I leave you two for a few minutes, already fighting?" Zac said, walking out from his bedroom.

"No, not fighting, just a misunderstanding." Vanessa spoke.

"No, not even a misunderstanding. More like Nessa denying hardcore."

"Oh really, about what?" Zac looked at the two with his crystal blue eyes.

"About how she--" Ashley started before she was cut off by Vanessa.

"I say that you can't really see when you first wake up. But Ash says that you can." Vanessa replied quickly while Ashley gave her a look.

"Well, I don't know about you two, but I can still kinda see when I wake up. It may be a little blurry, but I can still get a sense of what I see."

"Exactly!" Ashley said, as she opened the door.

"Whatever. Moving on." Vanessa said as they walked down the hall. "So where we eating?"

"I don't care, just get me some food." Ashley complained.

"Well, since we're all hungry, how about the restaurant here at the hotel? It's close so we can start eating sooner."

"Sounds good." Ashley nodded.

"Yeah, and we get a free meals there everyday as long as we stay here." Zac smiled.

"What? Are you serious?" Vanessa exclaimed as they were inside the elevator.

"Yep." Zac said.

"Yeah, I forgot about that." Ashley nodded in agreement.

"Did we get that at the other hotel when we were in Utah?" Vanessa asked.

"Yep." Zac simply said once more.

"I never knew that!" Vanessa said, shocked.

"So you mean to tell me that you paid every time you ate at that hotel restaurant?" Ashley asked.

"Well yeah, I only ate there a few times with some of the other cast, and I always paid my share." Vanessa said.

"Wow. Your waiters had a nice tip." Ashley laughed.

"Ugh. How come I never knew about this whole free restaurant thing?" Vanessa asked, looking at the two as the elevator doors opened when they reached the lobby.

"I don't know, Zac told me." Ashley gave her a shrug. Then Vanessa looked at Zac.

"You never asked." Zac laughed. "And plus, I don't recall eating at that restaurant back at that Utah hotel with you. I think we always went to other restaurants in town whenever you and I were at the same dinner."

"Oh well. At least I know now." Vanessa laughed. They made their way to the restaurant and were seated in a VIP area that wasn't visible to the public so that they wouldn't be bothered. They ate while chatting about random things, and just enjoying their time. Once they were finished, the girls went to their suites to change into their pajamas then headed next door to Zac's suite to watch movies. Eventually they all fell asleep on the couches. Zac and Vanessa on the longer couch, and Ashley spread out on the smaller one.

Ashley was the first to wake up the next morning, as usual. She was used to waking up earlier than the other two. After shifting around on the couch and stretching, she stood up and smiled at the sight. There before her was Zac and Vanessa curled up in a blanket on the couch in front of her. Vanessa was snugged up on Zac's chest, while Zac had his feet resting on the coffee table, and an arm wrapped around Vanessa's shoulders.

"Awww." Ashley quietly said, then turned to her purse. "I'm so glad I take this everywhere." Ashley smiled. She took her purse everywhere and was glad she had it that morning. Quietly rummaging through her belongings inside, she pulled out her digital camera and turned it on. She took a few pictures and smiled. Then she put it on video mode, waved in front of it smiling, then hid the camera, so that the two couldn't see it slightly peeking from behind a vase on the mantle above the TV. Her camera could record up to 3 hours of movie time, so she had nothing to worry about, then grabbed her purse and made her way back to her and Vanessa's own suite.

Zac and Vanessa both shifted a little as Ashley closed the door behind her, but still remained asleep. Vanessa curled her legs closer to her on the couch, while shifting her head a little on Zac's chest. Zac moved his shoulders around a little, and tightened his grip around Vanessa a little.

In the other suite, Ashley had taken a quick shower, and watched some TV. The hotel room phone started to ring, so she answered.

"Hello?" She asked politely.

"Hey Ash! It's Monique, the other girls, the guys, and I are down in the lobby. I asked the front desk if they could call you. Did I wake you?"

"Hey! Oh, no. It's fine, I always wake up early, you know that." Ashley giggled.

"I know, but just wanted to make sure."

"Oh, hey, don't call Zac's suite, and tell everyone else not to, alright?" Ashley said.

"Uhm, alright. But why?"

"I'll tell you later, but just do it."

"Okay."

"So where are your guys' rooms?"

"I think we're all on the same floor."

"Awesome! How about I meet you guys in the lobby and we'll all come back up and chill in mine and Nessa's room?"

"Sounds good."

"Alright, I'll see you in a few."

"Mmkay, bye." Monique said hanging up, and turned to everyone else. "Ash said not to call Zac and tell him we're here yet... and that she's meeting us down here in a few minutes."

"Why can't we let Zac know we're here yet?" Corbin asked.

"I don't know." Monique shrugged. "But knowing Ash, she's got something up her sleeve." Monique laughed.

"Yep, you know it." Ashley said from behind her, causing her to jump.

"Oh my goodness!" Monique said, as the rest of the gang laughed. "Geez, are you trying to kill me!" She smiled, and hugged her.

"Nope, just being my normal self." Ashley smiled.

"I still don't get how you're a morning person." Corbin laughed, as they hugged.

"I don't know. It's just part of me." Ashley said, hugging their other friends.

"So where's Zac and Nessa?" Ryne asked.

"Oh, they're still sleeping." Ashley informed. "But we can still hang out in my suite." She reassured them as they made their way to the elevator.

"So, what are you planning?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah." Everyone else chimed in.

"You'll see. Just keep your mouths shut." Ashley said.

"Fine." Everyone said in unison, still wanting to know. They all separated, to check if their luggage had made it up to their individual suites, Ashley followed the girls, and the guys went off to theirs. After they all finished they came back to Ashley and Vanessa's.

* * *

Yeahh, this chapter was originally longer, bu I wanted to save the rest for the next chapter. LOL. So what'd you guys think? REVIEWS WOULD BE AWESOME. &&& once again, thanks to those of you who do. (they really helped motivate me for this chapter.. I've got like the next 3 chapters done.. soo keep reviewing!) Peace. 


	7. Caught on Camera

I'm glad to hear your guys responses in the reviews! It's somotivating LOL. Anyways ENJOY!

* * *

Once they all made their way inside, Ashley was surprised to see Vanessa watching TV.

"Morning sleepy head. I didn't know you were a awake." Ashley greeted.

"Yeah, I just got out of the shower not too long ago." Vanessa said standing up to hug everyone.

"Do you know if Zac is up yet?" One of the guys asked.

"Nope. Not sure." Vanessa responded. "How have you guys been?"

There was an exchange of "good"s "great"s from everyone gathered in the room.

"Haha, well that's good to know." Vanessa smiled.

"Hey, I'm gonna check and see if Zac's awake." Corbin announced over the chattering teens.

"We'll come too!" Chris said followed by a nodding Lucas and Ryne.

"Okay." The girls said in unison and kept talking.

"Geez Ash, what time did you get up?" Vanessa asked.

"Uhm, I think around 6? I'm not sure. Then I met everyone else down in the lobby, we chilled in their rooms for a little, then came back here and found you."

"Oh." Vanessa said, just nodding her head.

"Hey, well, I'm gonna go unpack my things and take a nap." Olesya said yawning.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Monique said getting up. "We still have a while until we have to meet up with Kenny."

"You guys aren't hungry?" Vanessa offered.

"Nah, too tired to eat." Monique said.

"Alright, well, we'll see you guys later then." Ashley said. Monique and Olesya left the room, both exausted from their flight. The guys came back and told Vanessa and Ashley that Zac was awake but he was in the shower, so they were gonna head back to their suites to rest.

"You fall asleep in Zac's suite last night?" Vanessa asked while they were watching TV and eating cereal.

"Uhhh." Ashley hesitated. "I did, but I woke up in the middle of the night and thought you left, so I came back here and fell asleep in my bed. You?"

"Same." Vanessa nodded and lied.

"Don't lie Vanessa." Ashley smirked.

"Fine, I fell asleep on Zac's couch. No big deal." Vanessa confessed.

"Be right back. I think I forgot something in Zac's room." Ashley shot up, and walked out the door. She had one of Zac's keys, as did Zac with the girls room. They always exchanged keys, just in case something were to ever happen. Once inside, Ashley quickly got her camera, turned it off, and slipped it into her pocket. Once she was back in their own suite, she made her way to her own bedroom.

"Uhh, it wasn't there." She said, passing by Vanessa. "I think I'm gonna check my room." She smiled and walked into her room closing the door behind her, then threw herself onto her bed with her laptop.

Ashley copied the files onto a CD before even watching it, then hid the CD, and walked back out to Vanessa.

"No biggy, huh." Ashley said, plopping onto the couch next to Vanessa who had her attention focused on MTV.

"Hmm?" Vanessa asked.

"Look!" Ashley said whipping out her camera, causing Vanessa to turn off the TV, and pay full attention to the camera. Ashley first looked at the pictures saying "Awwww", while Vanessa was dead silent.

Then Ashley started to play the video that Ashley recorded. On the screen Vanessa and Zac were sleeping, ocassionally moving.

"Oh my gosh... ASH! Does Zac know you did this!" Vanessa exclaimed.

"What! It was cute! And no, he doesn't" Ashley smiled, as they continued to watch. More sleeping, and shifting around.

"When I woke up, I was on the other side of the couch! What the heck!" Vanessa said.

"Well, not when I woke up. And honey, I don't think the camera's vision is blurry when it first wakes up either." Ashley laughed. "Ugh, you guys are boring yet so cute... FAST FORWARD!" Ashley said, fast forwarding the video a about five minutes.

Eventually Vanessa moved off Zac, still sleeping, and laid her head on the other side of the couch.

"See that's where I woke up!"

"Okay, okay, geez."

A few minutes later, Vanessa had woken up, and looked around like she was lost. Ashley saw her smile in the recording before she got up. Vanessa pulled the blanket off of her, then laid it over Zac then the video stopped.

"Hey!" Ashley shouted. "Ugh! It got cut off! I think I have too many pictures and things on here I guess."

"I can't believe you did that Ashley!"

"Well.."

"Ugh, I hate you."

"No you don't. You know you love me. And besides, you've got to admit, you two did look cute together." Ashley said, showing her the picture of Vanessa sleeping with her head rested on Zac's chest.

"So what, I still hate you." Vanessa pouted.

"Hah! I just got you again! You just admitted it!" Ashley jumped.

"What! No, no, no! I wasn't thinking. Ugh. I meant that I hate you."

"Haha, you know you love me, and you know what you were saying." Ashley giggled running around the room like crazy.

"Hey you two, having a party without me?" Zac said entering the room.

"Haha, I guess you could say that." Ashley laughed. "Good morning sleepy head."

"Morning to you guys too. Uh, Ash, why were you running around wailing your hands in the air?" Zac chuckled.

"Just having some fun." She laughed. "You see, I got Vanessa.. AGAIN!"

"Very funny Ash. I still hate you."

"Ugh, how many time must we go over this. YOU, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, love ME, Ashley Tisdale."

"And Zac Efron." Zac laughed. Ashley burst out in laughter.

"See, Zac even agrees." Ashley winked as her jaw dropped.

"Shut up." Vanessa rolled her eyes playfully. Then her phone started to vibrate.

* * *

Yeah.. Short, I know. But it felt right to end it here while I was reading it over. LOL. But yeah, I made Ashley show Vanessa the video & pictures because I didn't want to make her seem like a mean person. Yeeeee, REVIEW PLEASE! && don't forget to check out "The Things I'd Do For You". Who knows, if I get a bunch of quick responses to this story, I might update again today since it's still early, but only because this chapter was shorter than my usual. BYEE


	8. Vanessa! Nessa! Wessa!

WEEEEEEE. THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS YOU GUYS! I really enjoy reading them. LOL. Well, hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

"Hello?" She answered

"Hey Nessa!" A voice said energetically on the other end of the line.

"Hey Kev! What's up?" She asked another one of her old time friends, like Marc.

"Nothing much. Just felt like calling you, haven't talked to you in a while. AND a certain someone never visits anymore. Ahem!"

"Haha, yeah. Sorry. But I do miss you too if that's what you're trying to say!" She laughed.

"Of course that's what I'm saying loser. Everyone else misses you too."

"Aww, tell them I say hi, and that I miss them too!" Vanessa said. Zac and Ashley just looked at each other and shrugged, and continued to watch TV.

"I will. So what's Mrs. Superstar been up to these days?"

"Ugh. Too much. That's why I haven't really had the chance to call anyone."

"It's cool. So where you at?"

"Hotel... again." She laughed. "We're close by though, and I have my car, so who knows, I might pop in sometime."

"Haha, that's cool. Well, I need to get going to work. I just wanted to check in." Kevin said on the other end.

"You work now?" Vanessa asked surprised.

"Hah, I know! Well, yeah, I got a job at Jamba" (a/n: Meaning JambaJuice) he laughed.

"Pshh, hook me up next time!" Vanessa laughed, but that phrase made Zac turn his attention to her.

"Hah, maybe if you're ever around."

"I will hopefully."

"Aiight, well, pretty soon I'ma be late because of you Ness."

"Oh, Right. Sorry working man." She laughed.

"Shutup."

"I was kidding. I'm proud of you. I'll call you later, I've been meaning to talk you and some of the other losers down there about something anyways."

"Aiight, cool. I get off around 6... so yeah."

"Mmmkay. Talk to you later then."

"Bye." Kevin said as Vanessa hung up.

"Who was that?" Ashley asked.

"Why? You record that?" Vanessa joked, causing Ashley to give her a look. "I'm kidding.. A friend of mine." Vanessa said tossing her phone next to her on the couch."

"Oh. Hmm. Ohh yeah Zac, everyone else arrived this morning." Ashley informed. "The guys went in to check on you, but you were in the shower, so they went back to their suites to rest."

"Really?" Zac asked. "Hmm, so what do you guys want to do until the cast meeting?" Zac asked.

"I don't know." Vanessa shrugged. "Want some cereal?" She giggled and held her bowl and spoon towards him.

"Uh, no thanks. I think I'll get my own bowl and spoon." Zac laughed getting up to go to the small kitchen that they had.

"I guess we could roam around town." Ashley suggested.

"Are we starting practice today?" Vanessa asked.

"Not sure." Zac answered from the kitchen. "But knowing Kenny.. who knows. He could make us all change into some wildcats sweats and start dancing once we enter the room." He laughed.

"True." Ashley nodded, continuing to eat her cereal.

"Then I don't want to waste my energy around town. Just in case. Besides, I don't want to be swarmed by fans today."

"Yeah." Ashley laughed.

"Let's just chill here then." Zac suggested taking a seat on the couch in between the two girls. "WHOA!" Zac jumped a little without spilling his bowl.

"What the heck?" Vanessa and Ashley said in unison, giggling.

"Uh, phone call Ness." He laughed taking a seat again.

"Ew, your butt sat on my phone now I have to put it to my ear?" She laughed.

"Put it on speaker phone then if you don't want my butt germs." He stuck out his tongue at her, as if they were immature kids.

"Fine!" She said sarcastically with her tongue sticking out, then put her phone on speaker. "Hello?"

"VANESSA! NESSA! WESSA!" screamed on the other end.

"Hmm maybe putting it on speaker was a good idea, or else I would've had that screamed into my ear." Vanessa laughed looking at Zac and Ashley who were laughing.

"We're on speaker! EW!" A voice said on the line.

"Yeah! Take us off!" Another voice, but smaller, said.

"Who the heck is that?" Ashley said laughing.

"Take a wild guess." Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"Ohhh! Hey Ashley!" the little voice called.

"Ashley?" an older voice said. "Ohh! HEY!"

"HI!" The third voice said.

"Is that Stella and them?" Zac laughed.

"Ohh, I hear Zac!" Stella said.

"Hi Zac!" Falisha, Jayden, and Stella said together.

"Hey girls." Zac said.

"Hey ladies!" Ashley said.

"So, why you three calling?" Vanessa laughed.

"I don't know. We got bored." Jayden replied.

"Aren't you supposed to be in school Jay?" Vanessa asked.

"Nope. Something about bugs? I don't know. Pretty gross though." Jayden answered.

"Ew." Ashley said.

"OH! Nessa, mom said to call her about the debut." Stella said.

"Alright." Vanessa groaned. "Oh, hey Falisha, you're on my court."

"Really? Awesome!" Falisha exclaimed.

"Hey! What about us?" Jayden and Stella said feeling left out.

"You guys are too young.. So you guys are just gonna be candles." Vanessa assured them.

"Fine. It's better than nothing." Jayden caved in.

"But I'm your sister!"

"So, you're my LITTLE sister." Vanessa laughed.

"Ugh, whatever."

"Hey, I'm gonna go call mom before we head off to the meeting. I'll talk to you guys later."

"Alright... Byeee!" They all said.

"I miss them." Ashley said.

"Haha, well, when we head back home you can come over."

"Sounds like a plan."

"What's a debut?" Zac asked.

"Well... its when something first comes out..." Ashley started to explain.

"No, I know that. I meant the kind that Nessa was just talking about."

"Oh. I'll explain it to you later when everyone else if around. It'll be easier." Vanessa suggested as Zac nodded and continued to eat his cereal.

Vanessa dialed her home number, keeping it on speaker, then continued to eat her own cereal.

* * *

HAHA, see I'm slowly getting to the debut planning and all that. LOL. But yeahh, I think I'm doing good soo far. Alright, I gottta get going to school. LOL, I just wanted to update right now since I might not get the chance to later. But I'll TRY! REVIEW PLEASE & THANK YOU! Aiight, byyeeee.


	9. Will you?

AHHH! Sorry for such the long wait.. errr, I'll just let you guys get to the reading LOL. ENJOY!

* * *

"Hello?" Mrs. Hudgens answered.

"Hey mom!" Vanessa said happily.

"Oh. Hey Vanessa! How's everything been over there?"

"Good." Vanessa replied.

"HEY MRS.HUDGENS!" Zac and Ashley both said happily.

"That was Zac and Ashley mom, we're in our room eating cereal." Vanessa laughed.

"You three are silly, you know that? Hello Zac, Hello Ashley!" Mrs. Hudgens said sweetly.

"How are you Mrs. Hudgens?" Zac asked.

"I'm great. Thank you for asking Zac. You know, I never see you around anymore. Same with you Ashley."

"Yeah I've been really busy." Zac said.

"Yeah, me too." Ashley said.

"Well, after this week when you guys are all done for now, you two should come by the house and have some of my cooking."

"Mom!" Vanessa laughed.

"Well, we can't turn down your cooking Mrs. Hudgens. I love your food." Zac said.

"Yeah! I seriously think your Filipino cooking is the best I've ever had!" Ashley practically jumped.

"Thank you!"

"Anyways." Vanessa said. "Stella, Jay, and Lisha just called me, and Stella said to call you about the debut."

"Oh. Right. Wait.. those three are upstairs. So thats what they were screaming your name for." Mrs. Hudgens said laughing.

"What dorks." Vanessa laughed.

"So, your father and I went looking around yesterday after you left. We found a few nice places up here. We're gonna go down to San Diego tomorrow to look."

"How nice?" Vanessa asked.

"Well, the ones we picked out are pretty nice compared to the ugly ones that weren't even clean." She told her.

"Ew." Vanessa said in disgust.

"That's what I thought you would say. So have you asked people to be on your court yet?"

"Yep. So far it's just Ashley and Falisha. I'm gonna call everyone else today and hopefully get everyone today. Jay and Stella are gonna be candles with you. And Dad of course is a rose."

"Alright. Don't forget to write all that down. What about your colors or color?"

"I'm not sure yet. I'll try and get that done today though."

"Alright. Well, I got to go. I'll talk to you later sweetie."

"Mmkay. Bye mom."

"Bye Mrs. Hudgens!" Zac and Ashley yelled.

"Haha, Bye you two." She hung up.

"You two are hardcore suck ups to my mom." Vanessa laughed, putting her phone down on the coffee table.

"You're mom is the coolest." Ashley said putting her empty bowl on the table next to Zac's. Vanessa did the same.

"Yeah, your mom is awesome." Zac said.

"Yep." Vanessa said nodding her head.

The rest of the gang eventually woke up, and got ready to go to the cast meeting. Kenny had called each of the rooms telling them to bring some extra clothes fit for dancing just in case. Everyone met in the lobby and waited for the cars to take them to the meeting.

"Ugh, I can't believe Kenny is making us dance the first day. I thought this was just a cast meeting." Corbin whined.

"Boy, you know Kenny, he wants the best." Monique told him.

"Yeah, plus, we've got to make this one better than the first... which seems almost impossible since we're still dealing with the press about it." Vanessa added.

"Hey, but look at the brighter side, we all get to chill again." Chris smiled.

"Yep." Everyone agreed.

"Hey, the cars are here you guys!" Olesya announced. "Or well, more like this little tour bus thingy." She giggled.

They all piled onto the bus one by one.

"Hey guys, check it out. There's technically no seats!" Ryne laughed.

"Hey, it's like one of those party buses" Lucas laughed.

"This is cool!" Olesya gasped.

"Paaarrrrtaaayyy!" Ashley danced her way to a seat on one of the benches that lined the edges. Once everyone was seated, the bus driver parted from the curb.

"It's always a party." Chris laughed. They were all seated facing each other so it was easier to talk.

"Anyways, while we're all still together before Kenny splits us up, I need to ask you all something." Vanessa started. "Or well, except Ashley. I already asked."

"What is it?" Zac asked quickly, concerned.

"Yeah..." Everyone else chimed and nodded.

"Well, I want all of you to be part of my court for my Debut." Vanessa smiled.

"What's that?" Ryne asked.

"Oh! Really! Those things are awesome!" Lucas exclaimed.

"I've never been to one..." Vanessa confessed. "But I'm having one." She said to Lucas.

"I see." He responded.

"Anyways, it's basically a big semi-formal party for my 18th birthday. It's traditional on my mom's side of the family; being Filipino and all."

"That's sounds like fun." Olesya said.

"Yeah, what do we have to do?" Corbin asked.

"Well, according to what my mom told me, we do traditional dances like the waltz and some other dances, and stuff like that. She kinda told me last minute before I left, so I don't really know much. But I need 9 guys and 9 girls."

"Well, I'm in. It sounds like loads of fun. Plus I've never been to one." Zac said.

"Yeah, I may not be much of a waltz dancer, but I'll definitely try my best Nessa." Olesya said.

"Me too!" Monique answered.

"Yeah!" The rest of the guys said.

"Really? All of you agree?" Vanessa asked, and they all nodded their heads. "Aww, you guys are the best!"

"Anything for you, Vanessa. You know we're always here for you." Corbin said.

"Yeah, plus it gives us more time to spend with each other." Monique added.

"Hey, Ness?" Chris looked at her.

"Yeah Chris?"

"Well, you said you needed 9 of each gender right? Who are the rest? I mean there's 5 of us guys here..." He started.

"Yeah, and 3 girls here... including you, that makes 4.." Olesya continued.

"Oh, uhm, well, I don't count. So yeah, there's only three girls here... but you guys remember my cousin Falisha?" Vanessa asked. They all nodded. "Yeah, well she's one of the girls too... and for the rest of the guys and girls, I'm gonna ask some of my old friends that I still keep in touch with."

"Sounds cool, are they all chill?" Corbin nodded.

"Yep. They're all easy to get along with... but they hate bushy hair." Vanessa laughed.

"Naw aw!" Everyone's draw dropped.

"I'm kidding you guys!" Vanessa continued to laugh.

"So how does this all work?" Zac asked.

"Oh, well, my parents said that it takes a while to get it all settled and everything... It takes like 6 or more months to plan, which is why I'm asking you guys right now. And then I guess we learn and rehearse the dances and things until then." She shrugged.

"Oh, my goodness, this is going to be so much fun!" Ashley squealed.

"So how do the pairings of the couples go? You know, who's who's partner and all... I remember that from when I went to one." Lucas wondered.

"Hmm, I haven't really thought of that..." Vanessa scratched

"You got any cute friends Ness?" Ryne winked.

"Oh my goodness. You're gonna hit on her friends?" Ashley exclaimed.

"If they're single, of course. And if it's alright with Nessa." He laughed.

"Well, most them are taken... but I haven't really kept track of their relationship status. Who knows." Vanessa shrugged. "A lot liked you in the movie, even though you didn't talk much."

"Hey! That wasn't my fault. Kenny needs to give me more lines." He argued.

"Yeah, well, I think we all get more lines for this." Olesya said.

"So, does anyone want to be with anyone's partner in particular? Or you guys don't care?" Vanessa asked.

"I don't care... As long as they're not like 'OH MYY GAHHHH' kinds of fans or anything.." Corbin laughed.

"Yeah..." Everyone else agreed.

"Alright, I'll be sure to tell my friends that then." Vanessa nodded. They started to dance and sing along with the radio for the rest of the way.

"We're here!" The bus driver called.

"Finally!" Ashley said.

"It wasn't even that long of a ride Ash." Chris laughed.

"Yeah, well, like everyone says I'm impatient."

"Yep."

* * *

Well, like i said at the beginning, sorry for such the long wait... Things have been pretty busy around here with it being the last few weeks of school, meaning finals, I just took the SATs, annnd just the daily things that need to be done around the house. But no worries.. I'm still writing, it may just take a while for me to update every so often, but hey summer is coming, and you know what that means? more free time;; more updates. LOL. Well, REVIEW PLEASE! Aiiight, I'm gonna try to write the next chapter right now for The Things I'd Do For you, Mmmkay, BYEEEE


	10. New Character? New Role?

Hey guys what's up? Well.. Here's the next chapter, but I'ma answer some questions and stuff first. YES, I am Filipino. LOL. Soo yeahh, that's how I know about these things...

Uhh, to **Hopeless Wanderer **(I dunno if you're reading this because you said it in a review for my other story, but I'm putting this here, as well as there during my next update) Yeah, I noticed that my writing lately has been mostly dialouge, and I fully understand where you could get lost. LOL, I just haven't really had the time to put much into my writing, so it usually just comes out as dialouge. But No worries, I've been working on being more descriptive of what's going on!

Anywhoo, enjoy the chapter guys!

* * *

"Hey Kenny!" Everyone greeted as they walked into the conference room and took a seat along the long conference table. Kenny of course sat on the end, while the guys sat on one side and the girls sat on the other side. Zac was sitting across from Vanessa, Chris across from Ashley, Monique across from Corbin, Olesya across from Ryne, Lucas across from Chucky (A/N: His real name is Charles I think, but I know that he goes by Chucky.. He's a nice guy.), one of the choreographers, and the rest of the table was filled with some other actors and dancers that had lines and major dancing to do in the movie.

"Hey everyone. It's good to see you all again. Well, as you all may know, we've only got one week right now to get as much done as we can, which is why I asked you guys to bring some dance clothes along. We've got Chucky here with us today.." He said, as Chucky waved his hand. "He'll be working with some of you today, while others work with me, and the rest work on lines and such with some of our assistants. Hopefully we'll be able to produce something spectacular this year just like last year, if not then better. We've got a lot to live up to with the reputation we set with the first movie, so without further delay, let's get started shall we?"

Everyone started talking a little, excited to get started.

"Alright, I'll need Mo(Monique), Zac, Nessa, Corbin, Lucas, Ash, Olesya, Ryno(Ryne), and Chris to stay here. Everyone else, please follow Chucky into the next room, and he will instruct you where to go from there."

"Alright people, you heard the man, let's hop to it!" Chucky said, full of energy.

Vanessa, Zac, Monique, Ashley, Lucas, Olesya, Ryne, Chris, and Corbin remained in there seats, chatting from where they were while Kenny was at the door, saying goodbye to everyone for now. Once everyone else was out of the room, Kenny returned back to the table, and took his seat.

"So what's on the agenda today?" Zac asked Kenny.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you guys about your characters in the sequel." Kenny said seriously causing everyone to give him an odd look.

"Why? Are they changing?" Monique asked concerned.

"Are some of us leaving?" Olesya asked, knowing that her part in the las movie wasn't major.

"Yeah..." Everyone else nodded.

"Calm down all of you." Kenny chuckled, leaning back in his chair. "None of your characters are leaving the story, but they are changing a bit... and we're adding another character."

"Another character?" Everyone started to mumble.

"Yes. Disney thought it would be a good idea to add another female role since the girls are outnumbered as of right now."

"That's awesome! So does that mean Ryan will be getting a 'lover' in the story?" Ashley asked excited about all the love couples.

"Yes. I believe this will be Ryan's 'lover' as you called it Ash." Kenny laughed.

"Finally, everyone is a couple!" Vanessa laughed.

"Not everyone..." Ashley mouthed to Monique slightly nudging her head towards Zac and Vanessa. Monique nodded causing them to giggle.

"Care to share ladies?" Corbin asked as everyone looked at the two girls.

"Nope." Ashley said.

"Alright then, back to what we were saying." Kenny began.

"Later.." Monique whispered to Corbin who nodded as he understood.

"We don't necessarily have anyone playing the role of Camille just yet. That's why you're all here. Within that group Chucky is handling right now, are five girls up for the role that we narrowed down. But the other casting directors and I thought it would be better if we let you guys have some input on who we choose."

"Sounds good." Corbin said.

"Yep, good thing we do since Ryan will be working with her most."

"Alright, well, we're going to go to a room where we can see how well she can dance through the mirror with out them seeing us." Kenny announced. "You know, a one-way mirror thing."

"Yep."

"After that, we'll send in a few of you at a time to see how they act with you, and analyze how well you get along, as well as how things flow together. After that, we'll make a few cuts."

"Okie dokes, let's get going." Ryne said as they all got up, and shuffled their feet to the other room.

* * *

**With Chucky and the Dancers**

"Hey guys!" He announced, as they were all standing in the dance room. "I need you all to settle down." He said motioning his hands, causing everyone to stop talking. "Alright, before we begin, let me explain what we're doing. In here, we'll be going over the choreography that will be used in the move. Some of you will be individually taken out to work on something else when called upon, and others will form a different group and go to a different dance studio room to work on a different dance for a different scene. In other words, some of you won't be in the same scene." He said putting an ear piece into his ear.

"This is how I will know which individual needs to move on out to the desired room, and so on." He said, pointing to the earpiece. He called off a list of names, and directed them to go to another dance room. All 5 girls stayed in the same room where Chucky was instructing, but no one knew who else was up for the part.

* * *

**With Kenny and the 'Gang'**

"Whoa!" Chris exclaimed as they entered an odd room. It was like being at the zoo, except you could watch dancers through the window instead, or having three huge TV screens the size of the wall. Through window on the right, they all saw Chucky teaching a dance, and through the left, they saw another group of dancers with another one of the High School Musical assistant choreographers. Through the window directly in front of the seats in the room, was empty, except for another choreographer waiting. All windows had doors connecting to them for easy access, but the dancers weren't allowed to enter through there, so they wouldn't know they were being watched.

"This room is tight!" Corbin said.

"Hey, Kenny, did you guys do this when we were all auditioning?" Vanessa asked.

"Nope, everyone you guys saw on the panel were the only ones watching you guys." He laughed.

"Oh." Vanessa said.

"This is cool, but in a creepy way." Monique added.

"Yeah, it's like... we're part of the FBI looking for a dancing criminal." Ashley joked.

"You and your imagination." Kenny laughed rolling his eyes.

"Hey what's the mic for?" Ryne asked pointing to the mic.

"Oh. Well, it's so that we can talk to Chucky. He has all 5 girls working in there, but none of them know who their competition is. It's also to talk to Whitney(A/n: the other choreographer alone in the other dance room. By the way, just made up her name)." Kenny said.

"Deng, that sucks, not knowing who your competition is." Zac said.

"Alright Chucky, let's send in Julia." Kenny said into the mic. "Whitney, Julia is on her way." They saw Chucky pause his instructing, and send Julia out with her things into the other room. "You guys go get changed into your dance clothes quickly while she makes her way over to Whitney."

Everyone but Kenny made their way to the bathrooms, and changed. The girls all wore shorts and wife beaters or tank tops, and the guys wore basketball shorts and white-tees or wife beaters. By the time they returned to the room, they saw that Julia was putting her things down by the door and making her way to Whitney.

"Hi, Julia right?" Whitney asked.

"Yes."

"Hi, I'm Whitney. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too." Julia smiled.

Julia was about Vanessa's height with the same hair color, but had a lighter skin tone.

"Hey, is she Filipino?" Vanessa asked. Kenny shuffled through his papers looking for Julia's profile.

"This is Julia.. Yep, she's Filipino. Aren't you?" Kenny asked.

"Yep." Vanessa smiled.

"She's 17 as well, going on 18 very soon. This is her first time auditioning for a movie. She's from La Jolla, Ca., finishing high school this year..." Kenny said, reading the papers. After he finished reading about her to the gang, he looked up at them.

"So what do you think so far?" Kenny asked.

"She sounds interesting." Ashley said.

"You know, she sounds a lot like Vanessa, in a way..." Zac laughed.

"Not really. I thin she just looks like her a little bit." Corbin said. "Maybe that's why you're thinking that."

"I guess." Zac shrugged.

"She doesn't look like me! But she's pretty." Vanessa said.

"Yeah, she is. I wonder where she got her necklace, it's cute.." Ashley pondered.

"Ohh, yeah it is!" Vanessa squealed."

"Girls." All the guys said in unison.

"Alright Whitney, I'm sending Ryan in Monique, as well as Ashley, Chris, Corbin, and Monique." Kenny said into the mic.

"Why aren't Zac, Ness, Olesya, and Ryne coming?" Chris ashed.

"Well, Lucas is gonna be out there each time, but I'm switching you guys off and on halfway through each session. You guys will learn one dance, while they learn another. But Lucas has to learn both."

"Ugh." Lucas groaned. "Only for you Kenny.. Only for you."

"Of course, now you guys get your butts out there and dance!" Kenny smiled, and let them through the door.

Zac, Vanessa, Olesya, Ryne and Kenny took a seat, in the chairs and critiqued Juila.

* * *

**With Whitney**

"Hey you guys." Whitney greeted.

"Hey Whitney." They all said back.

"Julia, this is Ashely, Lucas, Chris, Corbin, and Monique. You guys, this is Julia." Whitney said as they all shook hands with Julia.

"Wow, it's so great to meet you guys." Julia smiled.

"You too." Ashley smiled. "by the way, your necklace is cute, where'd you get it?"

"Oh Thanks, I made it." She blushed.

"Oh my gosh! We have to get together sometime." Ashley squealed.

"Haha, um, yeah that would be great."

"Alright ladies, settle down, settle down. Julia, you will be dancing with Ryan. The other couples are here to learn the dance as well to ease up the tension. Now let's have fun you six." Whitney said as she began.

* * *

After about 30 minutes, they switched, and Ashley, Monique, Corbin, and Chris did same.

"Alright, so what did you guys think?" Kenny asked while the others came back into the room, and Julia was getting her things together to head back to the other room with chucky.

"She was good." They all said.

"Yeah, she was easy to dance with" Ryan said.

"I like her, she's really sweet." Ashley said.

"Yeah, and we all got along with her pretty well." Ryne said.

"Alright, well, we'll have to wait and see what happens after the next four girls." Kenny said. "Everyone's having a ten minute break right now, so that's when we'll start."

* * *

If you haven't guessed it, the next couple of chapters will be about the 5 girls going for the part, but still about the debut here and there.It'll be a while till I actually get to the debut part.. It's kinda like Prom. How getting ready for it is just as exciting and important as the event lol. Plus, the new actress for the role will become a major part... So, you'll have to wait for the other four girls and see what happens. dun dun dun. LOL REVIEW please! Aiight peace. 


	11. Next up

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't really updated lately. I was studying hardcore. Well, I have things to do this summer, but hopefully that wont interfere with my updating. Alright, ENJOY!

* * *

"Break's over!" Chucky called then walked over to Julia. "Uh, Julia, we already finished the dance that you started to learn, so you don't have to worry about it. We're starting a new one right now." Chucky said

"Alright Chucky, could you send in Vanessa?" Chucky heard Kenny in his ear piece.

"Yep, no problem Kenny." Chucky said into the little mic connected to the earpiece. (think of a cell phone ear piece) "Vanessa! You need to go to the next room."

* * *

**In the room with Kenny**

"Her name is Vanessa too?" Vanessa asked.

"Yep. I know, if she gets the part it'll be a bit confusing, but we couldn't let that ruin her chances." Kenny said.

"Oh, I know, I was just surprised." Vanessa responded, taking a sip from her water bottle.

"That's cool, TWO Vanessas." Ryne said.

"Alright you guys, while she's getting settled let me tell you about her." Kenny said.

"Okay." Everyone said.

"Well, Vanessa ethnic background is Filipino and Italian. She was born in Italy.." Kenny said.

"Another Filipino?" Vanessa asked.

"Yep. Oh, I forgot to mention, the role of Camille is an Asian exchange student that comes to East High just before the school year ends." Kenny said.

"Interesting." Corbin said smiling.

"Dun dun dun. Corbin's dream come true." Ashley laughed.

"What?" Kenny asked.

"Corbin has a thing for Asian girls." The Chris laughed.

"Not really just Asian girls, more like any, but recently he's had a thing for them in particular." Ryne informed.

"Watch out Ness." Monique laughed.

"Uh, no. I love you and all Ness, but only like a sister. We've been through too many weird times." Corbin laughed.

"It's alright Corb, you're like a brother to me too."

"Anyways, all of our final five that were chosen for the part have some amount of a mix Asian blood in them, only some have any Filipino though. I believe Julia is the only one full Filipino but, and Vanessa is only a quarter even though she doesn't look like it, and the rest have a mixed ethnicity as well." Kenny said.

"Awesome." Chris said.

"Yeah." Everyone nodded.

"Anyways, she can speak English, Spanish, Tagalog, and Italian." Kenny read.

"Impressive." Monique said.

"She's from San Francisco... She's been acting for a few years, but nothing major. She's 19." Kenny said, and read the rest to the gang. "Alright, you guys who have to dance get your butts out there."

* * *

**With Whitney**

Vanessa walked into the room. "Hi, I'm Whitney, you're Vanessa right?" Whitney spoke.

"Yes. It's nice to meet you." Vanessa shook Whitney's hand with a wide white smile.

"Alright, so, um, you were taken from Chucky's instruction to come here and continue your audition." Whitney smiled.

"Really?" Vanessa said shocked. "Oh my goodness, I thought I was just called back to be a backup dancer." she gasped.

"Well, suprise!" Whitney laughed, and turned around to the sound of the door opening. "Hey guys." Whitney smiled as Ashley, Lucas, Chris, Monique, and Corbin entered. "You guys, this is Vanessa."

"Hey." Everyone shook hands with her.

"Vanessa, this is Ashley, Lucas, Chris, Monique, and Corbin. They'll be dancing in here with you today to ease up the tension, and Lucas is your partner since the two dances you'll be learning are couple dances."

"Sounds great, and it's a pleasure to meet you guys!" Vanessa said.

They started the dance. Lucas and Vanessa had slight problems while dancing, while the others were trying to remember the moves from the last practice with Julia. After a few more times, Vanessa finally got it down.

"Alright you guys, a quick break." Whitney said "Then the next dance. You guys can go send in the other and switch now." She told them. As Corbin, Monique, Ashley, and Chris walked through their door, Zac, Vanessa, Olesya, and Ryne came out ready to go. Whitney was on her phone with someone important so they decided to introduce themselves to Vanessa.

"Hey." Zac said behind Vanessa, who quickly turned around. "I'm Zac." He held out his hand.

"I'm Olesya." They shook hands.

"What's up? I'm Ryne. But you can call me Ryno if you like." He laughed shaking hands.

"And, I'm Vanessa." (For now I'm gonna call Vanessa Anne Hudgens 'Nessa' to cut the confusion down) She smiled sweetly.

"I'm Vanessa too." She laughed, causing the others to laugh. "It's so great to meet you guys."

"Well, it looks like Whitney is gonna be on the phone for a bit." Olesya said, looking over at Whitney who was slightly yelling into her phone.

"Haha, yeah. So you speak four languages? That's pretty cool." Nessa said.

"Yeah." Vanessa nodded. "How'd you guys know?"

"Oh, well, we get a list of names for possible new cast members, and we go to the police station to look up their criminal records. I must say. You've got a lot under your name.." Zac said seriously.

"What?" Vanessa gasped, looking shocked and confused.

"Yep., and we Google'd you... you've got your name all over the internet..." Ryne added.

"Huh?" Vanessa asked, still confused. "But I--" She was cut off by Nessa and Olesya.

"You guys!" They both said in unison.

"What!" They said together but neither of the girls answered them, instead they turned to Vanessa.

"It's okay, they're just kidding with you." Olesya giggled.

"Oh. Phew. I was about to say, I thought my record was clean... and Everyone's name is practically all over the internet." She laughed.

"Yeah, well, we know a little about you because Kenny, the director, reads us a little about the person auditioning so we kinda get a feeling of what kind of person they are." Nessa assured her.

"Oh, that's cool."

"Alright folks. Let's get this started." Whitney said, making her way over to the group. "Where's Lucas?"

"I think he went to go get more water." Ryne laughed, just then Lucas entered through the door.

"Hey sorry I took so long. Got caught up talking to Kenny."

"It's fine. Let's get started shall we?" Whitney said.

They continued to dance after they finished, Vanessa was told to go back to Chucky's instructions, and the gang gave their "reviews" on Vanessa.

"She was pretty hard to work with at first... with the dances and all, but I think she was just nervous because she was really good." Lucas said.

"Yeah, she's pretty sweet too." Monique said.

"Yeah, I agree, I like her personality." Chris said.

"Yep. She doesn't seem like she would cause any problems on set or anything either." Olesya said. Then Vanessa's (Hudgens) started to ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey loser."

"Yo Stella. What's up?"

"Hi Stella!" Everyone, including Kenny, yelled.

"Haha, put me on speaker!" Stella laughed.

"Alright hold up." Vanessa said, taking the phone from her ear. "Alright you're on."

"Hi Kenny! Zac! Ash! Mo! Olesya! Ryne! Chris! Lucas!" Stella said.

"Hey! What about me? Corbin?" Corbin said.

"Corbin? Who's Corbin?" Stella asked.

"Ouch Stella. Ouch. That one hurt. I can't believe you teach her these things Ness." Corbin said while everyone laughed.

"Haha, she does that all on her own." Vanessa laughed.

"Yeah. I'm just kidding with you. How can I forget about my ice cream buddy?" Stella said on the other line.

"See, exactly! I am her only only ice cream buddy!" Corbin smiled.

"That's because everyone else was filming, and you two got bored and went out for ice cream while she was on set with us." Ryne laughed.

"Shut up." Corbin said.

"So why'd you call Stella?" Vanessa asked taking her off speaker. "Oh, and you're off speaker now."

"Mom and dad wanted me to tell you that they found a few places for your debut. We're in San Diego right now looking at some."

"Really? How nice are they?"

"Pretty nice. I like them so far. I don't know how you're gonna choose Nessa."

"Well, take pics with your cell and send em to me with the names of them so I know which is which."

"Alright. I already took some anyways." Stella laughed.

"Hey, I gotta go, we're auditioning girls for another leading role.

"alright, put me back on speaker really quick, I wanna say bye."

"fine." Vanessa said, putting it back on speaker. "Alright you're on."

"Bye you guys!" Stella said.

"Bye Stella!" Everyone said.

"Oh, and see you on set pretty soon!" Kenny said.

"Yep. Can't wait. Bye!"

"Bye Stella. Tell Mom and Dad I said hi and I love them." Vanessa said.

"Okie dokes. Later Nessa." Stella said before she hung up.

"Alright you guys, next up is Michelle." Kenny said looking at the papers. "Hey Chucky, send in Michelle." Kenny said into the mic.

"Will do." Chucky replied. "Michelle, you're next. You need to head to the other dance room." they saw Chucky say to a brunette in the dance room.

* * *

So what'd you guys think? Well, I'll try to update tomorrow. REVIEW PLEASE! && thank you for the past reviews as well. I like reading them. Alright, till next time!


	12. Break

YES! I can finally upload my stuff again from my memory stick! YAY! Hahaha, so hopefully i can update more often now, unless that happens again. Anywhoo, ENJOY THE CHAPTER! && sorry for not being able to update.

* * *

"Uhm, alright." Michelle said shyly. 

"Hey Kenny?" Whitney said into her mic.

"Yes Whit?" Kenny replied into the mic.

"Do you mind if we take a longer break? I have to call my daughter's husband back. She just got to the hospital." Whitney said.

"Oh, she's finally going into labor?" Kenny asked.

"Yep." Whitney smiled.

"Alright, I suppose we could take a break. Just tell Michelle, the next girl, when she comes in." Kenny said.

"Thanks Kenny!" Whitney said, dialing her phone.

"Great. Now I can make a few calls." Vanessa said looking at the time. 5_:00pm_ she thought. Just as she was about to dial a number, her phone rang.

"Hello she answered?"

"Yo Nessa!" Marc said. (he's the one who was texting her at the beginning of the story)

"Hey Marc. I was just about to call you." Vanessa laughed.

"Oh really? See, we have super powers." He said sarcastically.

"So why are _you _calling me?" Vanessa laughed.

"I dunno, bored I guess."

"Well, anyways, while I'm talking to you, do you wanna be on my court for my debut?" Vanessa asked hopeful.

"You're having one? Wow, the famous Vanessa Anne Hudgens is asking _me _to be on her court for her debut?" Marc gasped.

"You know, you should be an actor." She laughed.

"I am one. Just not professional like you. But yes, how can I say no to my homie?" He asked.

"You can't, because I'm the bestest homie you got." Vanessa said with a small attitude.

"Oh hell nah." Marc said with the same attitude. Vanessa just stayed silent for a little, and so did he. Then they burst out into laughter.

"Ahh, can't believe you're actually having a debut." Marc said.

"Yeah I know. I'm like the least Filipino oriented person you know." Vanessa laughed.

"Not really. I know worse." He laughed. "But seriously, you actually have time for it?"

"I guess. Or well, hopefully I will. Plus, now I have an excuse to see you guys more."

"True. True. Can't complain with that. So who's on your court so far?"

"Well, for the guys, there's you, Zac, Chris, Ryne, Lucas, Corbin. And the girls there's Falisha, Ashley, Olesya, and Monique."

"Wow, you have a long way to go. So are they all from High School Musical?"

"Yep."

"Cool, cool. So I finally get to meet your cooler friends eh?"

"Shut up. You know I love you all just the same."

"Except for Zac? Since you know.." He asked. Just then Zac came up behind her and poked her sides, causing her to squirm and squeal.

"Oh my gosh!" She jumped, almost dropping her phone. "ZAAAAC!" She whined. "I'm on the phone!"

"Well, it didn't look like it was anything formal, so I thought I'd have some fun because I'm hella bored since you're on the phone. Everyone else went to go to the bathroom." Zac said taking a seat next to her. Vanessa looked around and hadn't noticed that everyone had left, and she and Zac were the only two in the room.

"Oh. I didn't notice." Vanessa said.

"Hello?" Marc said. "You still there?"

"Oh. Uh. Yeah, still here." Vanessa said into the reciever.

"Haha, I told you!" Marc yelled. "I heard the way you said 'Zac'"

"Shut up! I don't."

"Lies. Lies."

"Just best friends."

"Okay Ness. Whatever you say. Hey, I got to go, I'll call you later."

"Alright. Hey could you ask Lyssa, Jen, Jenalyn, and Tin if they wanna be on my court?"

"Yep, no problem. We're all heading over to Tin's anyway."

"Want me to ask anyone else?"

"Uhm, no I think I've got it covered, but don't make a big deal out of it. I don't want people complaining that they're not in it, so on and so on."

"You got it."

"Alright talk to you later then."

"Yep, bye Ness."

"Later." Vanessa hung up then turned to Zac.

"You're so mean!" She said to Zac. They were still the only ones in the room.

"What? I was bored. I can't go run into the bathroom and do that to the guys." He laughed.

"Right, but it would be pretty interesting if you did." Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes at me Ms. Hudgens."

"I can do so if I want to Mr. Efron."

"Oh yeah?" Zac said.

"Yeah." Vanessa said. Then Zac attacked her, tickling her like crazy.

"Zac!... stop!. I.. ca..can't.. breeaaathee." Vanessa said laughing.

"Well, you're talking and laughing, so technically you are breathing." Zac laughed, still tickling her. What they didn't know was that Ashley had started to walk in the room when she saw this. Then she took out her camera once again, and did her "magic". She took a few pictures of them rolling and laughing on the floor, then recorded some of it. She smiled with what she had, then left.

"I give up!" Vanessa gasped.

"Good."

"Shutup." Vanessa said, fixing her hair.

"So, more people on board for your court?" Zac asked

"Yep. Or well, another guy at least. He's gonna ask Lyssa, Jen, Jenalyn, and Tin for me, hopefully they'll say yes, then I'll only need one more girl and three more guys." Vanessa said, finishing up her hair.

"That's cool. So who are they?"

"Some of my friends that I practically grew up with before I had to move up here. We've kept in touch, but I haven't really had the chance to see them much you know?"

"Yeah, especially with all the promoting and stuff." Zac nodded.

"See, so you are smart Efron." Vanessa said sarcastically.

"Ha Ha, very funny." Zac said.

"I wonder where everyone is..." Vanessa said.

"Probably talking to some of the dancers and stuff. I'm too pooped out to walk around." Zac said, sinking into his chair more.

"Hmm. Yeah."

"Why? You don't like hanging out with me anymore?" Zac said, pouting. "Aww Nessa, doesn't love me." Zac said. _Gosh, how I wish she loved me more than a friend._ Zac thought.

"Shut up. You know I love you guys to death." Vanessa said, throwing a towel at him.

"No you don't."

"Yes I do.

"Nu uh."

"Yes huh."

"Nope."

"Yes I do Zac Efron." She said.

"Okay, okay. Whatever you say." He said putting his hands up in defeat.

"See, I win."

"Tie."

"Whatever, you know I always win." Vanessa said.

"Right. Well I'm hella tired." Zac said, laying his feet down on the rest of the chairs in the isle, and his head on Vanessa lap. Right then, Ashley walked in again quietly, her camera in her hand from just showing the girls. Then she started recording again from the door frame.

"What am I now? Your pillow?" Vanessa asked.

"Yep. Tired. You pillow." Zac said.

"Ew, you're all sweaty though." Vanessa said. Zac didn't reply. "Fine, only for you Zac since I'm so so nice. And stop talking like Tarzan." Vanessa caved in. Zac was facing her with his eyes closed, then smiled.

"2-1" He mumbled.

"Ugh. Freakin Zac.." Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"Hey! I saw that." Zac said. "No rolling your eyes at me remember?"

"Right." Vanessa said sarcastically. Ashley finished, and slowly slid out of the room.

"Zac, I'm gonna go fill up my water." Vanessa said, trying to get up.

"Noooo, stay. You're a comfy pillow." He whined.

"I'm thirsty."

"We can fill it up later. We don't dance until after the others are done." Zac looked at her with his blue eyes. Vanessa caught his eyes with hers.

"Fine I guess you're right. But that one doesn't count for the score, otherwise I'm getting up." Vanessa threatened.

"Okay, okay. It doesn't count."

"Could you at least wipe your sweat?" Vanessa asked.

"Nope. Too lazy."

"Ugh." Vanessa said, and grabbed the towel next to them and threw the towel onto Zac's face so it could wipe off the sweat.

"Thank you." He said with his eyes closed.

"I did it for my own benefit. But you're welcome." Vanessa said folding the towel, then placed it under Zac's head so that his sweat wouldn't go onto her shorts anymore. Then everyone else walked into the room. Whitney just got off the phone, and Michelle just entered the dance room. As Whitney was explaining to Michelle what was going on, Kenny was telling the gang a little bit about her.

"Well, let's see. Michelle is actually Vanessa's best friend, both of them came to the auditions together." Kenny said. "She's half Chinese and half American. She does a variety of different dance types, and very little professional acting experience." Kenny read off the rest, and then the first group went to go dance. The same routine that happened with Julia, Vanessa, happened with Michelle, as well as the other two girls auditioning, Rea and Mae.

* * *

Hmm, yeah.. I didn't want to go through all the auditions, it's kinda getting off topic of what i'm trying to do.. LOL. Well, next chapter.. more vanessa and zac? Ashley's camera? vanessa sees the pics of the halls that stella sends? Hmm, yeahh, something like that. LOL. REVIEW PLEASE! i missreading them since i haven't had a new chapter up in a while.byee 


	13. Room service

Hey guys! THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS! Haha, I'm glad to see you guys liked it. Uhhm, no, the other Vanessa from the auditions isn't here anymore. LOL! Sorry, I should've used another name, soo just a heads up: I won't be using her(the auditioner) anymore to keep the confusion down. LOL. Sooo if you guys are confused about anything else just ask away. &&& The debut location is still unknown, just to clear that up. Alright, ENJOY! This is a pretty long chapter this time...

* * *

Rea and Mae were the last two girls that auditioned that day. Everyone was excused for the rest of the day, and would return tomorrow for more rehearsal and the audition cuts. The gang was driven back to the hotel and went to their hotel rooms. Zac still had his suite to himself, so he went into his alone, while everyone else shared.

Once Vanessa and Ashley got into their suite, Ashley went straight to her room to add the new pictures and videos to her laptop so she would have a back up file in case Vanessa ever found her camera and deleted them. Vanessa was confused as Ashley just walked straight to her room without a word, but she just shrugged and went into her room to grab her pajamas then took a shower. Ashley heard Vanessa start up the shower, and she finished on her laptop, then ran out of the suite with her camera to Monique's and Olesya's suite.

"GIRLS! OPEN UP!" Ashley practically screamed.

"What is it Ash?" Monique said opening up the door and letting her in. "Aren't you tired at all?"

"It's Ashley, Monique. Think about it." Olesya said, coming out of the bathroom, drying her hair with a towel.

"Hmm, good point." Monique laughed, and sat on the couch. "So what's up? Why were you screaming?"

"Well, I'm not _that _tired first of all, because we've been worked harder than that before, and Nessa is in the shower so I had to run over here while I had the chance to show you guys." Ashley explained, showing the two girls the camera she was holding.

"You did not do that again did you?" Olesya gave Ashley a look.

"I did. But these just happened after I showed you guys the other one earlier." Ashley smirked.

"You've got to be kidding me. How do you always do this at the right time?" Monique laughed, rolling her eyes.

"It's a gift." Ashley smiled and shrugged. Ashley turned on her camera and revealed the adorable moments she captured only a few hours earlier that day.

"Wow, those two are just freakin adorable together." Monique gushed.

"I know, right?" Ashley said.

"I seriously don't see how they can't see they like each other..." Olesya added.

"Yeah, I mean, at least Zac admitted it to us that one day when Vanessa took the day off last year because of her dentist appointment. But Nessa..." Ashley sighed. "She just won't crack, even though it's soo obvious that she does like Zac."

"Yeah, and how Zac's always down because he only thinks Nessa only likes him as a friend." Monique nodded, looking at the picture they had stopped at.

"Okay, just spit it out you two. After working with you two for this long, I know how you two compose your little sly plans in your minds..." Olesya said as she started to brush her hair.

"Olesya!" Ashley said over dramatically with her hand over her chest. "I have no idea what you're talking about... sly plans. Pshh." Olesya rolled her eyes.

"Ash, shut up. You know we always do it. Like last year... Corbin and that back up dancer." Monique laughed.

"I know. I'm just playing." Ashley laughed. "And plus, we were successful with those two. Why not Zac and Nessa?"

"Just let nature run it's course you guys. Their hearts will eventually collide." Olesya said while walking towards the bathroom.

"Eventually? Maybe." Monique stated.

"But _soon_?" Ashley asked, looking at Monique.

"Nah" They said together, and Olesya just rolled her eyes as she was in the bathroom putting her hair up.

"You guys..." Olesya said coming out of the bathroom, and taking a seat on the couch. "Trust me, if it's meant to be, like how we all think it is, then it'll happen by itself. You shouldn't mess with these kinds of things."

"True, we shouldn't." Monique said turning to Ashley.

"But it doesn't mean we can't give it a little push..." Ashley said with a grin on her face. Monique and Olesya looked at her with faces that read confusion, worry, and excitement.

"Okay, Ash, like I said how many minutes ago, what are you thinking?" Olesya said.

"Okay, you know about Nessa's Debut thing?" Ashley started.

"What about my debut?" Vanessa asked, walking into the room. All three girls jumped at the sound of her voice. "Sorry for scaring you guys." She giggled. But someone just left me in our suite all alone, and I got all freaked out." She said referring to Ashley.

"Oh, right, well, I got bored while you were in the shower, so I came here."

"Yeah, I thought you'd be in here." Vanessa said walking towards the couch. "So, what about my debut?" She asked again.

"Oh, well, we were talking about what we were gonna get your for your birthday... you know since it's a special ocassion and all." Olesya said.

"Yep. So, sorry Ness, as much as I love you, get out!" Monique laughed.

"But my birthday isn't for another.." She started.

"Yeah, but you know well enough that we're always soo bust with the press and all Nessa. Now shooo!" Ashley said, directing her towards the door.

"Ugh, you guys suck. Just shows how much you really do love me." Vanessa pouted.

"Hush. You know we love you to death." Monique laughed.

"I know, but it was worth a try." Vanessa laughed. "Oh, and I forgot to tell you. Corbin said he's too lazy to go out and eat tonight, so he said we should all just get ourselves room service. You want me to get you anything Ash?"

"Nah, I'll just order from the girls' room." Ashley said, leaning against the door frame.

"Alright, well, I'm gonna go get me some food." Vanessa said, leaving.

"Bye Nessa!" All three girls called before Ashley closed the door. All of the suites were spread kind of far from each others, except for Vanessa and Ashley's suite, and Zac's since they arrived on the same day. Vanessa stopped by Corbin's and Lucas' suite to see if they wanted her to order them anything, but as she guessed, Corbin had already ordered their food. So she stopped by Chris' and Ryne's room, but Chris was asleep, and Ryne just told Vanessa they'd do it themselves and thanked her for her consideration.

"Fine, I guess I'll just order myself my own food. Zac probably ordered his own by now like everyone else." Vanessa said making her way to her room. Their suite was on the other end of the hallway of the hotel. Vanessa turned the corner to see Zac waiting outside their suite door knocking.

"Hey, you guys open up! I don't know where I put your key." Zac said knocking with one hand, and a pizza in the other.

_Haha, Zac is the pizza guy again, like he was on Heist. _Vanessa thought, and laughed on the inside.

"I've got food.." Zac added.

Vanessa crept up behind him and hugged him tightly around his waste, burying her face onto his back so he couldn't see who it is.

"Oh my gosh! Zac Efron! Can I have your autograph? I'm your biggest fan! I can't believe I found you!" Vanessa squealed, changing her voice to hide herself. Zac was caught off-gaurd and almost dropped the pizza.

"Uhh, I don't think you're supposed to be up here..." Zac said uncomfortably. _How'd she get past security? _He thought. Vanessa was laughing on the inside as Zac kept trying to spin around to see his "fan" but Vanessa would just keep hugging him around his waist and her head close to his back so he couldn't see her face.

"Uhm, yeah, you should get going before security finds you and something bad happens." Zac said.

"Geez Zac. Is that what you'd really say?" Vanessa laughed, letting go of him, allowing him to face her.

"What? Nessa?" Zac said with a confused look as if he had never met her.

"Uhm, yeah, I'm Vanessa Anne Hudgens... remember me?" Vanessa laughed.

"Yeah. I mean, uh, I just didn't know it was you." She sheepishly smiled.

"Hmm, yeah, well, I win." She smirked.

"Whatever." Zac said. "So that's why you guys weren't answering."

"Yeah, Ash is down at the other girls' room.. I think she's just gonna have dinner over there, and the guys are either sleeping or pigging out... but knowing the guys, they're probably all sleeping by now."

"I see. Well then, care to join me for some pizza? You didn't mention anything about you eating, and Ash is with the other girls..." Zac offered.

"Okie dokes. Your room, or mine?" Vanessa asked.

"Uhh, mine. I feel like changing into my pjs... since you're already comfortable in yours." Zac said, looking at her in her teal plaid pajama pants and barefoot. "You walk around the hotel barefoot?"

"Shut up. I only do it when we're up here. Besides, we're the only ones allowed on this floor other than the dancers and stuff. So I don't care if I'm running around barefoot up here."

"Right." Zac said, opening the door to his suite.

"It's all carpet anyways." Vanessa said.

"Whatever you say Nessa. Hmm, choose a movie, my DVDs are in the binder on the coffee table." Zac said. "I'm gonna change really quick."

"Alright... any movie?" Vanessa asked.

"Uhhm, yeah I guess." Zac shrugged, and walked into his room to change. Vanessa quickly flipped through the binder full of DVDs and finally picked out one, and popped it into the DVD player. Zac came out in his pajamas and a white wife beater as the title screen appeared on the television.

"Wow, I forgot I had this movie." Zac said, grabbing a slice of pizza and taking a seat next to Vanessa.

"Yeah, well, I'm surprised you have it. I freakin' love Beauty and the Beast." Vanessa laughed.(a/n: I LOVE THAT MOVIE! HAHA)

"I used to hang out with my little cousins all the time and they always wanted to watch Disney movies, so I started buying them, so every time they came over to visit, or vise versa, I'd always have them." Zac defended himself.

"Aww how sweet. Either that, or you really like this movie too." Vanessa joked.

"It's a cool movie... My cousins always said I was Chip." Zac confessed.

"Why?" Vanessa giggled a little.

"Well, because of my little gap I used to have... and since they're only little girls, they thought it was a chipped tooth." He laughed.

"Wow." Vanessa started laughing. "That's the cutest thing ever." She said between laughs.

"Yeah well, at least I don't have that gap anymore." Zac said satisfied.

"Well, what's wrong with chip?" Vanessa said.

"Nothing.."

"Good, because he was always the cutest thing ever." Vanessa said, turning back to the TV. _Besides you Zac._ Vanessa thought to herself and smiled.

"Yeah, well, I always thought the foot-rest dog was pretty tight." Zac laughed.

"You're such a loser." Vanessa said, then started humming to the tune of the song Belle sings in the beginning. Zac smiled as he watched Vanessa so focused on the movie while humming. It sounded beautiful to him. Suddenly Zac was brought back to reality by the ringing of Vanessa's sidekick.

"Ohhh! Stella finally sent me the pictures!" Vanessa squealed.

"Pictures?" Zac raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Vanessa nodded. "My parent's and Stella went down to San Diego today to check out some halls for the debut, and I told Stella to take some pictures of them. I think they're gonna check out more LA ones tomorrow though since I'm still not sure where I want to have it." Vanessa said flipping open the sidekick.

"Oh" Zac mouthed.

"Wow, these places are so nice..." Vanessa said going through all the pictures Stella sent her. "I wonder what the ones in LA look like..." Vanessa said.

"Let me see." Zac said scooting over, taking the moment as a chance to sit closer to her.

"I don't know how I'm gonna choose..." Vanessa said.

"Wow, some of these places look nicer than the places premiers are. So exactly how many people are you inviting?" Zac looked at the pictures with the huge halls.

"Uhh, well, family and friends I guess. My mom's side of the family is HUGE though. It's funny because I can never tell who I'm related to at the Filipino parties my family goes to." Vanessa laughed. (a/n: SOOOO TRUE! HAHA. Some of you guys know what I'm talking about. Lol)

"Are you serious?" Zac laughed. "Deng, my family is small. Kinda." He chuckled.

"Yeah, this one time, I met this girl at school when I was still in public school, we became close friends and stuff. Then one day, my mom and her mom came to pick us up at the same time ironically, then my mom was like 'hey look, it's your auntie and your cousin!'. So I turned around and it was my friend." Vanessa laughed at the memory, putting her phone back down on the coffee table.

"Interesting. I thought you were the smart one." Zac said sarcastically.

"Shut up, you're only a year older. And plus I'm almost done with school." Vanessa stuck her tongue out before grabbing a slice of pizza and eating all the cheese off first.

"One year older, one year wiser." Zac said taking another bite from his slice.

"Wiser huh?" Vanessa asked as she chewed.

"Yep." Zac said taking another bite.

"Bet you aren't wise enough to see this," Vanessa said. Before Zac could respond, Vanessa smacked the pizza, full of tomato sauce, onto the side of his face. It stuck onto his face for a few seconds before peeling off. Vanessa hid her shocked expression behind her hands, covering her mouth. Zac just sat there for a second, taking a moment to realize what just happened.

"Oh. My. Gosh." Vanessa burst out in laughter.

"I can't believe you did that..." Zac said. "You're so gonna get it." Zac threatened, throwing the slice of pizza back into the box. Vanessa took advantage of that moment and got up and started to run for the door, but Zac dashed to it before she could get out.

"Nope. You're gonna pay Nessa." He laughed.

"Eeeek." Vanessa squealed, running around Zac's suite, with Zac right behind her. He finally got a hold of her, picked her up and spun her around in circles. Suddenly he lost his balance and fell onto the floor, along with Vanessa since she was in his grip. Vanessa fell on top of him, the two laughing. The stayed like that for a few minutes just laughing, not realizing Vanessa was still on top, and Zac had his hands around her waist still. After their laughter died down, they just started into each others eyes.

"Uhhm, yeah." Vanessa smiled, getting up. She finally realized she was still on top of him.

"Right." Zac said awkwardly.

"Uhh, maybe you should get cleaned up." Vanessa giggled a little.

"Right." Zac repeated.

"I'm gonna go back to the couch and watch the movie." Vanessa said softly.

"Right." Zac repeated again.

"Is that the only word you know right now?" Vanessa laughed walking to the couch as Zac stood there frozen.

"Right." He said, causing Vanessa to just laugh and turn her attention back to the movie.

_I can't believe I smacked that pizza onto his face. _Vanessa thought, hugging one of the couch pillows. _And his eyes... my god. Vanessa snap out of it. Be strong._

_Wow. _Was all Zac could think of. _She's amazing... I just.. wow. I bet it's gonna be a little awkward now. _Zac brought his hands up to his face to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming. _Crap. I still have this pizza sauce all over me. _He thought, looking at his hands after touching his face. He quickly took off his wife beater and walked over to the bathroom to wash his face. Zac finished washing his face then walked back out of the bathroom, and took a seat next to Vanessa again.

"Sorry about the pizza." Vanessa laughed a little. 

"No problem. I never know what to expect from you, Ms. Spontaneous." He laughed. Vanessa laughed a little and turned to face Zac to saw something...

* * *

Dun dun dun. Cliff hanger. Haha, I haven't done that in a while, so I thought I should. Well, it's somewhat of cliff hanger, just really small. HAHA. whatever. Soo you guys like? REVIEW PLEASE! Haha, I personally loved this chapter.. I'd say it's one of my favorites. lol. Alright well don't forget to review. See ya!


	14. The Race To Her Heart

OKAY... SORRY! Ugggh, I had a little typo.. see this is the last line in the previous chapter:

"No problem. I never know what to expect from you, Ms. Spontaneous." He laughed. Vanessa laughed a little and turned to face Zac to saw something..."

in the part where it says "to face Zac to saw something.." it was supposed to say "SAY" instead of saw so the it says "to face Zac to SAY something.." SORRY about that. LOL! Well, anyways.. while i'm here... I might as well update. Haha. ENJOY!

* * *

Vanessa turned to face Zac so she could say something about his comment, but before she could get any words out of her mouth, her face collided with a slice of pizza Zac held out. He let go of it as it stuck to her face.

"Oh. My. Gosh." She said calmly..

"Uhh, hey Ness, look! We both got facials today!" Zac smiled trying to make a good thing out of it, while trying to hold in his laugh.

"ZAC!" She screamed.

"Uhm, okay... I'm gonna go run into my room now. Feel free to wash your face in the bathroom." Zac said, slowly beginning to get up. But Vanessa practically tackled him before he fully stood up. She lost her balance and her face landed on his bare chest. (a/n: Yes, he never put his shirt back on. LOL! I forgot about that in the other chapter.. but I know all you gals reading love it.)

"Ew. I just took a shower Nessa! Now I have pizza sauce on me... again." He laughed. Vanessa rolled off of him laughing as well.

"Yeah, well, I just took a shower too you know!" She laughed. "Ugh."

"Yeah well, you're not the one who has to take a shower again. You can just wash your face." Zac whined.

"I guess. Anyways, we're even." She said propping herself up on her elbows to face Zac.

"Yep." Zac said, propping himself on his elbows as well.

"Well, I'm gonna go wash my face in my room then come back to finish the movie." Vanessa giggled.

"Alright, well, you have my key anyways. I'm gonna go take another shower and get into some clean clothes." Zac said walking to the bathroom.

"Mmkay. I'll just put the movie on pause then." Vanessa said before walking out.

Once Vanessa shut the door of her's and Ashley's suite behind her, she sighed deeply. "Vanessa Anne Hudgens... what are you doing?" She said to herself, walking to the bathroom to wash her face.

"God Zac. You need to tell her already." Zac breathed as he started up he shower. "Before it's too late."

Vanessa finished washing her face. _Hmm I guess I should just head back to Zac's since Ash is still with the girls. It's not like he takes that long to shower... Unless he really cares about his hair that much. _She laughed to herself, then walked next door to Zac's room.

_I don't have to shampoo again... I just took a shower like 30 minutes ago! _Zac thought, so he just washed his body and came out.

"Shit." Zac hissed after wrapping a towel around his waist. "I forgot to grab clean clothes." He said smacking his forehead, and walked out to go to his bedroom to change into some clothes.

At the same moment, Zac walked out of the bathroom, and Vanessa walked into Zac's suite.

"Oh my gosh!" Vanessa screamed turning around quickly as she blushed. There was a counter that blocked her view of Zac's lower body, which was wrapped in a towel, so she only saw his dripping wet hair and upper wet body, automatically assuming his was, well..nude.

"Huh?" Zac said dumfounded. He turned and saw Vanessa turned around facing the door. "Nessa?"

"Uhhh... yeah." she said nervously. "Sorry... I didn't know you were uhh yeah." She blushed even harder.

"What?" Zac asked confused.

"Geez Zac, I thought the other day that when you said you change in the middle of your room sometimes, I didn't think you meant in the middle of ANY room." She laughed slightly.

"Uhh. No." He laughed. "I only change in my bedroom Nessa. I'm wrapped in a towel you know." He rolled his eyes, laughing, then he walked into his bedroom. Once Vanessa heard the click of the door, she turned back around and went to sit on the couch to finish watching the movie. Zac came out moments later, still laughing.

"Sorry about that." he apologized. "I kinda forgot to grab some clothes before I took a shower, and I thought you'd take longer washing your face or something." He chuckled.

"It's fine. It's my fault though."

"Not really. I gave you the key."

"Hmm, okay let's just drop it." Vanessa laughed. "Wait, why did you think it would take me longer? I was just gonna wash my face."

"I don't know." Zac shurgged. "It's just girls take time when it comes to their looks."

"Yeah, like how you take longer than most girls on your hair?" Vanessa asked.

"Exactly." Zac said, not realizing what she had just said. "Wait what?"

"Exactly." Vanessa said. "Ohhh shut up. I like this song." Zac just chuckled to himself as he watched Vanessa closely watch dancing mops and spoons.

"Hey look it's you." Vanessa laughed as Chip showed up on the screen.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny. Now I'm never gonna tell you any of my stories." Zac said.

"Lies. You always tell me your weird life stories." Vanessa said, her eyes still glued to the screen.

"Yeah, well so do you." Zac shot back.

"Soo. It's how people learn more about each other, duh" Vanessa stated.

"Okay, okay." Zac held his hands up. Vanessa's phone started to vibrate. She didn't notice so he picked it up off the coffee table and looked at the caller ID and read "Kevin".

"Hello?" Zac said in the most girly voice he could create, deciding to answer her phone.

"Who are you talking to?" Vanessa turned to face him, noticing he was on her phone.

"Hey... alright Nessa, don't say anything just let me talk." Kevin said quickly, then quickly let out a soft sigh. "Now I know that everytime we chill, everyone makes fun of me about liking you, and I always deny it and we laugh it off, but the truth is, I do! There, I said it. Soo, uhh, anywho, what I'm trying to say is... will you, um, you know, go out with me?" He asked nervously.

_What the hell? _Zac said to himself mentally. _You waited too long! Now look what you've got yourself into. Some guy beat you... over the phone! Nice one Zac, nice one. _He thought as a weird expression crawled onto his face.

"Uhm, sorry, I'm not Nessa." Zac said, his voice back to normal.

"Oh, shit. Sorry. This is her phone though, right?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah, it is, hah, don't worry you've got the right number." Zac reassured him.

"Oh. Alright cool, so who is this?" Kevin asked.

"Zac, who are you on the phone with? Oh, and if you haven't noticed, that's my phone." Vanessa said, trying to grab the phone from him, but Zac wouldn't give in.

"It's Zac." Zac said into the phone, "who's this?"

"Kevin." He stated.

"Oh well, it's nice to meet you."

"Dito. Wait, you're Zac Efron?" Kevin asked a little confused.

"Yeah." Zac chuckled.

"Oh, deng. Haha, yeah, nice to meet you man.. I mean.. kinda. Uhh could you not tell Nessa about what I just said over the phone... to you, which is even weirder." He chuckled.

"Yeah. I know what you mean, it's nice to meet you too." Zac laughed again. Vanessa just glared at him for not giving her phone back, which she was still trying to grab. "And don't worry about that, just consider me as, uhh, practice." Zac said. _Why the heck did you say that! Are you supporting this guy! _Zac thought . "So, how do you know Nessa?" He ashed trying to get away from the subject of them going out.

"Uhm, long time friends, before she became famous and stuff." He laughed.

"Oh. That's cool. Ooops, hold up, someone's on the other line dude." Zac said, clicking over to the other line. "Hello?" Zac asked again.

"Oh my god Zac. Why are you answering my phone?" Vanessa asked still fighting for her phone.

"Oh, hello Zac." Mrs. Hudgens smiled on the other end.

"Hey Mrs. Hudgens." Zac said politely. "How are you today?"

"I'm doing great, and yourself?"

"Same."

"Uhm, is Vanessa with you?" She asked.

"Yeah, her hands are kinda occupied.." Zac laughed as Vanessa was reaching for her phone, but Zac was holding her back with one hand. "I'll put her on speaker." He chuckled and put the phone on speaker.

"Mom! Zac won't give me my phone!" Vanessa whinned.

"That's nice hun, so did you see the pictures?" Mrs. Hudgens asked, not even considering what she was whinning about.

"Uhh, yeah. They're really nice. I never expected them to look like that." Vanessa said

"Yeah, well, we're on our way home. Stella's sleeping, but I'm sure she would've liked to say hi. And your dad says hi too."

"Tell him I say hi!" Vanessa said excitedly.

"Oh! Me too Mrs. Hudgens!" Zac laughed. They heard Mrs. Hudgens send their greetings to her husband, hearing him laugh and say hi back.

"Okay, well, I just wanted to make sure you looked at them. I'll make Stella take pictures of the LA ones tomorrow and send them to you so you could pick some and narrow it down, and we'll take you to those when you get home."

"Alright. Thanks mom."

"Welcome sweetie. So how is everything that you're planning going?"

"Uhm, well, I only have to find a few more people left to be on my court." She said proudly.

"Wow, already? How about an escort?"

"Yeah. Uhm, I'm still not sure on that one mom."

"Alright, well, I'll let you go now. Bye Sweetie. Bye Zac." She said and hung up.

"Geez, she didn't even let her own daughter say goodbye to her." Vanessa said sarcastically, getting up and walking to the bathroom.

"Where are you going?" Zac asked.

"Uhh. It's kinda obvious Zac... I have to pee?" Vanessa laughed

"Oh. Right." Zac said, turning back to her phone. "Hey you still there?"

"Yep. Kevin said.

"Yeah, well, I'll tell Nessa to call you back. Or you can call her back in a few minutes.. she's kinda taking a dump." Zac laughed.

"Haha! Alright. It's been cool talking to you man."

"Yeah you too. Talk to you again sometime, oh and I was kidding about the dump part." Zac said.

"Haha yeah, okay. Aiight later man."

"Bye." Zac said hanging up.

_Man, what am I gonna do now? Should I tell her that he called? She'll probably check her call history and get mad that I didn't tell her. Crap. I can't just ask her out now... I mean, _Zac looked up to see Vanessa walking out of the bathroom, _wait, what am I saying? We're alone! There's no interruptions... I mean If I get to her before him, then it's alright. It happens. _He thought, building up his courage to finally ask her out. _Alright Zac, you can do this._

Vanessa returned to her seat an continued to watch the movie without saying a word. A few seconds later Zac turned to her.

"Hey Nessa?" He asked. Right after he finished, he phone began to ring, and she quickly grabbed it, assuming Zac would answer it again like the last two calls.

"Hold on." She said quickly. "Hello?" She asked.

"Ugh, your phone's ringing." Zac just sighed.

"Oh, hey Kev." She said happily. "So, what's up?" Kevin asked her out but changed his words a bit than from when Zac had answered the phone.

"...Sorry, I just wanted to call back as soon as I could before I got too nervous to ask again." He blushed on the other end after asking her out.

"Oh. Wow." Vanessa said. "Uhm..." Vanessa paused. _Wow, Kevin? I knew he liked me, but I never really thought he'd ask me out. He is cute and everything... great guy... I trust him too. Wait. What about Zac? Ugh. Well, I guess if Zac did like me, that would've happened a long time ago right? So... I guess it's okay to go out with Kevin. _Vanessa quickly thought. "I'd love to Kev." She smiled.

"Really!" He asked excitedly. "Uhh awesome."

"Yeah." She giggled. _I've always had a little thing for Kev anyhow. _"So how was work?"

"Good actually. Hah, I didn't really have to work much. Not many customers." He laughed. "You?"

"Just some on and off dancing, meeting some of the girls that are auditioning for a lead, and now I'm just hanging out with Zac since everyone else is busy or tired." She explained.

"Oh, that's cool. Hah, so that's why he answered your phone."

"Yeah, why you asked him out first?" Vanessa asked, turning around to find Zac gone from his seat.

"Uhh, kinda, but I thought it was you who answered the phone." He laughed.

"Dork. Hey, I gotta go get something done, so I'll talk to you later?"

"Yeah, no problem Ness. Bye!" Kevin said hanging up.

"Bye." She hung up, and looked around to see if Zac was somewhere else in the room.

"Zac?" She called out. But there was no answer. "Hello?" She called out again. _Where'd he go?_

She got up to walk around the suite in search of him. She walked into the other bedroom, which was empty, then into the kitchen, which was empty as well. The bathroom light was off and the door was still open so it was obvious to her that he wasn't in there. She started walking to his bedroom to see if he was inside. Right when she was about to knock on the door it opened, causing her to scream.

"Wow, you scared me." She said, calming herself down. "I thought you were gone."

"Sorry. I uh, heard my phone ring from my room." He lied. He really went into his room to get away from Vanessa while he knew that Kevin was asking out the girl he wanted.

"Oh. I thought you left or something."

"And leave you in my suite alone? No way, I don't know what you'd do with me things." He joked, trying to hide the pain and anger he had.

"Shutup." She hit him playfully. "Anyways the movie is done..."

"Even though we really didn't watch much." He cut her off.

"So. I watched my favorite parts at least."

"Whatever you say." Zac laughed, walking back to the couch. Then Vanessa's phone began to ring again to the ringtone set for Ashley.

"Hmm, wonder why Ash is calling me." She said, putting it on speaker.

"Hey Ash, what's up?"

"Hey Nessa. Just wanted to let you know, I'm staying in the girls' room tonight... you know, top secret discussing about your present." Ashley laughed.

"What? Ash! You know how I hate being in the suite alone at night..."

"I would've told you when I stopped by, but you weren't there. Where are you anyways?"

"In Zac's suite eating pizza and watching movies since the other guys are sleeping and ate already, and you girls kicked me out."

"Oh. I see Hah, sorry, but you know how these things are... It's not much of a surprise if you know what we get you, and if we don't put a lot of thought into it." Ashley fought back.

"Whatever fine."

"C'mon Nessa, it's not that bad. It's just one night."

"Alright, I guess." Vanessa caved.

"Hi Zac! I know I'm on speaker... I can hear Zac breathing." Ashley laughed.

"Shut up Ash!" Zac laughed. "No you can't."

"I know. I was just testing to see if i actually was on speaker." she laughed.

"Loser." Zac called out.

"Dork." Ashley retorted.

"Alright, bye Ash." Vanessa said before their bickering went any further.

"Night!" Ashley said before hanging up.

"Aw, Vanessa is scared to stay by herself." Zac mocked.

"Shutup, and you aren't?"

"Uhm, Ness, I kinda do have a suite to myself." He chuckled.

"So, doesn't mean you don't get scared sometimes."

"That's because I don't."

"Whatever. So what do you want to do now?" She asked.

"I don't know. It's still early."

"Yeah, well, I'm gonna go back to my suite so I can plan more for the debut. Wanna come?" She asked getting up.

"Sure. I'm not busy he laughed." Walking with her next door. Vanessa quickly walked into her room and grabbed her laptop and brought it back out to the living room. She turned on her ipod and set it onto her speaker deck and let the music play.

"Hmm, I should make a list of who's in it." Vanessa said.

"Yeah, you should before you forget and ask too many people to be on your court." Zac laughed.

"Alright, let's see." Vanessa said, opening a blank word document to type things in. "Guys: Zac, Corbin, Lucas, Ryne, Chris, Marc?. And the Girls: Ash, Monique, Olesya, Falisha, Jen, Lyssa, Tin, Jenalyn?" Vanessa typed.

"What are the lines for?" Zac asked.

"Those are still the open spots I have left."

"And the question marks?"

"Well, I still haven't gotten their answers yet.. so yeah."

"Oh, that's cool. So what else do you need?"

"Hmm, colors."

"How many?"

"I was thinking two different ones, but have a major and a minor one, you know?"

"Yeah, okay, so what color then?" Zac asked.

"Red! Duh."

"Right... I forgot, red is your favorite."

"Yep."

"So what about your 'minor' color" Zac said, putting air quotes up as he spoke.

"Hmm, I was thinking either gold, or silver. But I can't make up my mind."

"Why not all three then? I mean it is your debut, soo you should be able to do it how you want." Zac gave her his input.

"You know what? You're right. I could do all three." She said and typed "Colors: red, silver, gold."

"Now what?"

"Hmm, I think I need to look for dresses... but I'll do that with Ash so you won't be bored." She giggled.

"Thanks." Zac said rolling his eyes.

"How about you help me with what the guys are wearing?" She asked.

"Sounds good to me, since I'll be wearing it. I mean, I don't want you picking out something with Ashley for the guys to wear." Zac laughed.

"Why? Me and Ash can dress you guys all cute."

"Uh no, how about I just help you."

"Fine, only because you're a guy." She laughed and looked for suits online.

"Black or white?" He asked as she opened up a website of suits.

"Hmm, I always thought the white suits were cute, but the black ones are too..." She said.

"You're so indecisive."

"I know." She said as she looked through the site.

Eventually Vanessa and Zac picked out black tail(a/n: some people call them penguin tail tuxedos and so on; they're basically the suits with the longer backs) suits with silver vests, silver ties, and white gloves. Vanessa decided that her dress would either of the three colors, and the girls' would be red, but hadn't picked out the dresses yet since Ashley wasn't around. This took them about an hour, which Zac fell asleep sometime during that duration. So Vanessa just decided to go to her bedroom to make a few calls.

She called Falisha and asked her to ask her boyfriend to be on her court since they were good friends too, and she needed 3 more guys. Then she called another riend, Raymund, to be in it, and he accepted. She called Marc back to see what the three girls had said and he told her that they all agreed to be in it. After, she called her cousin Raiza and asked to be in it. Then she forgot about Kevin, so she called him, but his twin brother Karl answered, but before he gave the phone to Kevin, she asked if he wanted to be in her debut instead, and he said yes. Then the phone was given to Kevin, and they started talking.

"Hey Nessa." He smiled on the other end.

"Hey Kev." She smiled at herself.

"What's up?"

"Oh, well, I just asked your bro to be on my court for my debut." She informed him.

"Ouch, you didn't even ask me?" He joked.

"Well, he picked up your phone."

"So. It's my phone." He laughed.

"Whatever. Anyways, I already have enough guys for my court..."

"It's cool, Ness."

"Wait, you didn't let me finish. I was wondering if you wanted to be my escort. I wasn't planning on having one, but since you asked me out, I was thinking it might as well be you." She said happily.

"Oh. Hmm, I don't know Nessa, I might have to think about that." He said.

"Ouch."

"Haha. You know I'm kidding. I'd be honored."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Great. Uhm, I have this weekend plus Friday off, so I thought I'd come down and visit before I head back home..."

"No way? Well, I've got work on Friday, but I've got the whole weekend off." He laughed.

"Good, then you can hook me up with some free smoothies then." She laughed.

"Alright."

"Okay, I gotta go plan more and stuff, talk to you later."

"Alright bye."

She hung up and filled in the blanks she had typed earlier with the names. She looked at her laptop and read:

_Guys: Zac,Corbin, __Ryne, Chris, __Lucas, Marc, __Karl, Jed, __Raymund_

_Escort: Kevin_

(a/n: Jed is Falisha's boyfriend; totally made up character...)

_Girls: Ashley, Monique, __Olesya, Falisha, __Jenalyn, Tin, __Jen, Lyssa, __Raiza_

_Debutante: Me(Vanessa)_

_Colors: Red, Gold, Silver_

_Tuxedos: Black penguin tail, Silver vest, Silver tie, White gloves, White shirt._

_Escort's: White penguin tai, white gloves, white shirt, matching color to debutante dress for vest and tie._

_Desses: Red, still need to find._

_18 Candles: Mom, Stella, Jayden _(then a bunch of family members and close friends.)

_18 Roses: Dad, _(then a bunch of family members and close friends... there's too many lol)

She smiled at how much she had gotten done, and saved the document. After she turned off her computer she walked out to the living room and found Zac awake and watching TV.

* * *

Okay, finally done with this chapter. LOL. I re-wrote this chapter which is why it took soo long. then i got all caught up in it. I hoped you guys liked it. LOL this is like 3 times longer than my chapters usually are, soo i expect you guys to leave reviews! Otherwise you won't get another chapter for a long time since this one was really long... soo review, and you guys will get the next chapter sooner. ( Oh and don't get mad at me for not making Vanessa&Zac get together, I love keeping you guys on your toes. LOL. 


	15. Confront Her

Wow, biig response on the last chapter. LOL! THANK YOUFOR REVIEWING! Ahh, i loved reading them. lol. hmm i'm not sure ifthis is gonna be a Zac&Vanessa story yet... I'm still thinking about it. haha, a lot of youguys hateKevin, but no worries he's a good guy. Hmm, well this chapter isn't long like the other one because I wanted to post up another chapter.I wanted to get through the week, soo i just skipped to the last day. Soo enjoy!

* * *

The next day, the other girls had found out about Vanessa saying yes to Kevin, which basically killed their mission to get Zac and Vanessa together. They couldn't be mad at her for saying yes to Kevin, but they weren't totally happy for Vanessa since they all wanted her and Zac to be together.

Julia ended up getting the part for the new lead role in the movie and started to rehearse more with the gang, and hung out with them more. They all took her under their wings, and made sure she fit in when she was on set. Vanessa and Julia were hanging out in Vanessa's and Ashley's suite while Ashley was hanging out in Monique's and Olesya's suite.

"Thank god this week is over!" Vanessa let out a sigh of relief.

"We weren't even working that hard Vanessa." Julia reminded her.

"Yeah, I know." Vanessa giggled, "But it's just a reminder of how hard Kenny is going to push us in a few more weeks. Plus I have my debut planning and stuff. And how many times do I have to tell you? You can call me Nessa or Ness if you'd like." Vanessa laughed looking over to Julia who was laying on the other couch.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I just met you as Vanessa, soo it kinda stuck to my head. But Ness and Nessa slip out more often now at least."

"True."

"So what do you wanna do today?" Julia asked. "It's our last day..."

"Yeah, and that meeting today went by quicker than I thought it would."

"Yep, and we're all not going out to dinner until 7:30." Julia added. They both looked at each other and gave a sly smile.

"Shopping." They both said in unison, getting up. They got their things together and left.

Vanessa and Julia had become really close the past few days considering everyone else was acting a bit strange. Zac and Vanessa only interacted when they were dancing together, when they all ate out together, and ocassionally he would swing by her suite. Ashley and Monique would talk to Vanessa, but not nearly as much as they would ever since she had said yes to Kevin. Olesya, and the other guys of the cast still talked to her as they normally did, but she wasn't as close to them as she was to Ashley, Monique, and Zac. She and Julia started hanging out since Vanessa would always see her alone, not talking very much. Julia had taught her more about the Filipino heritage and explained how she'll be having her debut in a few more weeks.

* * *

**Monique and Olesya's Suite**

"It's our last day here guys." Ashley said plopping onto their couch.

"Yeah, but we are gonna see each other in a few weeks anyways." Monique reminded her

"Yeah, plus Nessa said we were gonna go over her debut plans and stuff, and that we could be there if we wanted." Olesya added.

"Ugh, I'm happy for her and everything... but I still think she should be with Zac." Ashley blurted.

"Ditto." Monique said.

"How many times do I have to hear that from you guys? You've been saying that all week, plus you guys haven't been hanging out with her like your usual selves."

"Yes we have!" Ashley fought.

"No you haven't." Olesya retorted. "You've been in our suite lately. Not to mention, since you two haven't been hanging out with her, she's been making Julia feel more welcome."

"I guess you're right. But that's a good think for Julia though." Ashley gave in.

"Yeah, except that she's not really getting to know the rest of the cast." Monique said.

"Not really. We hang out." Olesya said.

"What do you mean?" Monique asked.

"Uhm, well, we always hang out." Olesya simply said. "She's been going out with me, Nessa, and the guys. Except for Zac of course... he's been a little out of it, but he's been around a few times." Olesya shrugged.

"And we weren't invited?" Ashley said hurt.

"We could never find you guys. I think it's when you guys were always saying how she should be with Zac and stuff."

"Maybe we should go over to your suite." Monique suggested.

"Yeah." Ashley said.

"Well, I'm late I was supposed to be down in the lobby already. I'm gonna go hang out with the guys." Olesya said grabbing her bag. "We're gonna go watch a movie, and try to get Zac back."

"Alright." Monique and Ashley said as all three of them walked out into the hallway.

* * *

**With Vanessa and Julia..(just walking out of Vanessa and Ashley's suite.)**

"Should we ask Ash, Monique, and Olesya to come?" Julia asked.

"Um, I don't know, I think I heard Ash say they went shopping yesterday. I couldn't go because I had to work on the dance moves with Zac."

"Alright." Julia shrugged and stepped into the elevator. They reached the lobby and walked out to find all the guys standing around.

"Hey guys." Vanessa smiled

"Hey guys." Julia said also.

"Hey Ness. Hey Julia." They all said.

"You guys wanna join us?" Lucas asked.

"Where to?" Vanessa asked.

"Uhm, we're gonna go see a movie. Then maybe walk around the mall since that's where the theater is." Chirs laughed.

"Yeah, we're just waiting for Olesya to come down." Ryne added.

"Hmm, what do you say Nessa? We're heading to the mall anyways." Julia turned to her.

"Sounds like fun to me." Vanessa smiled again.

The guys were all aware of Vanessa and Kevin, and of course they knew how Zac felt. They all tried to comfort Zac, but they knew he was still sad about it. But then again, they didn't want to hurt Vanessa's feelings by telling her that she shouldn't be with Kevin. The thing that surprised everyone else was that Zac still talked to Vanessa as if nothing happened, just not as much. Olesya came down a few minutes later and they all went off to the mall.

* * *

**with Ashley and Monique.**

"Hey Nessa!" Ashley called out when they walked into their room. No answer.

"She's not here?" Monique questioned, walking around.

"I guess not, she might be with Zac next door." Ashley thought aloud.

"Try calling him." Monique suggested.

"Alright. Hold up." Ashley said, taking out her cell phone and dialing the number. She waited while it rang a few times, until he finally picked up.

"Hello?" Zac picked up.

"Hey Zac."

"Hey Ash, what's up?"

"Is Nessa with you by any chance?"

"Yep. She's with me, the guys, Olesya, and Julia. We invited them to the movies with us. Something wrong?"

"Oh, okay. Just wanted to know. Geez, I guess Olesya was right..."

"Hey, what are you and Monique up to? You guys are the only ones not here. Why don't you guys meet us at the movies?" Zac suggested. "We're gonna chill at the mall afterwards I think."

"Hey Mo, Nessa's with everyone else... you wanna go with them?" Ashley asked turning to Monique.

"Yeah, sure. We really should clear things with Nessa, and we haven't spent that much time with everyone else." Monique said.

"Yeah, alright, we'll meet you guys there. Uhm, call me if you guys go in before we get there." Ashley said.

"Alright, will do. Bye." Zac said.

"Bye." Ashley said grabbing her things, and headed out the door with Monique.

* * *

**In the van with everyone else.**

"Hey guys, Ashley and Monique are gonna meet us there." Zac said over the talkative passengers. There was a wave of "okay"s and "alright"s from everyone.

They all made their way into the theatre before Ashley and Monique had arrived, and Zac had told them they would save them seats. This kind of upset the two girls because they couldn't talk to Vanessa before, and would just have to wait until the movie was over. The seating went something like this.. Ryne had the isle seat, then Chris, Corbin, Olesya, Zac, Vanessa, Julia, Lucas, and two reserved seats for Monique and Ashley when they got there. Julia was talking to Lucas about the La Jolla beaches, so Vanessa thought she should talk to Zac since they haven't really had good conversation lately.

"So you're coming home with me right?" Vanessa turned to him.

"What?" Zac asked, breaking from his train of thoughts, causing her to giggle.

"I said, you're coming home with me right?" Vanessa asked again.

"Huh?" Zac asked a little confused.

"Remember we discussed this that one night when Ash slept in Mo's and Olesya's suite, so you slept on our couch to keep me company since I was scared?" Vanessa asked.

"Oh, yeah." Zac said, remembering. "Of course. We were gonna work on your debut right?" Zac asked.

"Yep."

"Yeah, I just need to call my parents and remind them."

"Great! You're so awesome Zac." Vanessa smiled. Even in the dim lighting, that smile made Zac forget about everything. Everything except for the fact that she was taken... by Kevin. His smile faded slightly, and just looked up to see Ashley and Monique arriving. He waved to them, and Vanessa turned around to wave at them also. The movie went by rather quickly... and soon enough they were all getting up out of their seats and shuffling their feet out to the mall. Ashley and Monique quickly grabbed the opportunity to talk to Vanessa and grabbed her right when they all got into the isle as they made their way out.

"Hey Nessa! We need to talk!" Ashley said.

"Yeah." Monique said behind her.

"Hey guys... uhm is everything all right?" Vanessa asked. She knew that they hadn't been spending as much time together, but she just thought that they were still planning and talking about what they wanted to get her for her birthday, so she just shrugged it off all those times.

"Yeah, everything is fine." Monique said. "Or well, sorta, kinda, uh not really?" Monique began to think. The three girls walked together trailing behind the others, who were led by Julia and Olesya linked by their arms and running into stores.

"Yeah." Ashley said. "Well, we wanted to say apologize to you."

"Yeah, we've been jerks." Monique said.

"I see you've been reading your old script." Vanessa giggled at her joke.

"Huh?" the two others said in unison.

"Ugh, nevermind." Vanessa rolled her eyes, knowing they would get it sooner or later. "But anyways, what do you guys mean? Why do you need to apologize?"

"Well, uh, since we haven't been hanging out and all." Ashley said.

"I thought you guys were just planning my birthday present like you said the first time." Vanessa looked at them confused.

"Well, not exactly... or well. Ugh. This is hard. Hmm, well, ever since you told us about Kevin, it just didn't feel right." Monique tried to explain.

"Right, and we felt uncomfortable about it, so we just tried to ignore it, but instead we ended up ignoring you as well... but not purposely of course." Ashley finished.

"You guys... Well, I know you wouldn't do that on purpose, unless you actually wanted to..."

"Of course not!" They said in unison once again."

"But you guys should've been honest with me to begin with." Vanessa stopped and looked at them.

"We know Nessa.." Monique hung her head down.

"We're really sorry Ness. I mean, we don't even know the guy." Ashley said with her head down as well.

"You guys it's okay. You guys are just being protective, it's what friends do." Vanessa said understandingly.

"You forgive us just like that?" Ashley looked at her with confusion written all over her same expression that Monique had.

"Yes you guys. You guys are two of my best friends. How can I not?" Vanessa laughed at them

"True, I mean you do love us more than anyone else in this world." Ashley winked.

"Hmm, I don't know... I kinda think Olesya beats you guys by..." Vanessa started.

"Ouch." Monique said.

"I'm kidding I love you all equally." Vanessa laughed. "And you both should know that I would put my friends before any guy." She winked at them.

"See, this is why I love this girl." Monique hugged her, followed by a hug from Ashley.

"Me too."

"I love you guys too." Vanessa said as they broke the embrace. "Anyways I need to talk to you and Zac, Ash." Vanessa said as the rest of the group came out of a store.

"Uhm, okay." Ashley said. "Hey Zac, get your butt over here!" Ashley called out.

"I think that's my cue to leave." Monique laughed and went to join Olesya and Julia.

"Yeah?" Zac said as he came over to Vanessa and Ashley.

"I need to talk to you guys about tomorrow." Vanessa said.

"What's tomorrow?" Zac asked.

"Friday? Our last day. Duh!" Ashley said.

"Well, technically today is our last day." Zac corrected her.

"Whatever."Ashley rolled her eyes.

* * *

Dun dun dun. HAHA. soo you guys like it? hmm, well REVIEW PLEASE! ohh and to answer the review about RYNE SANBORN... yes, he's cute, and I'll try to put more of Ryne in here for you. LOL. Alrriiighhhht, i'm gonna get started on the next chapter, maybe I'll post another chapter tonight if i get that far. bye.


	16. Road Trip

Hey guys! I'm back! well, here's the chapter. There's a lot of new characters in this chapter, soo i suggest you read carefully. lol. Enjoy!

* * *

"Ugh, guys stop!" Vanessa laughed. "Anyways, I wanted to know if it was okay if we drive down south a little further to go see my friends, you know, the ones who are gonna be in my debut too?" Vanessa asked. "We don't have to if you guys don't want to, we can just go straight to my house." Vanessa added. 

"I'm fine with it." Ashley smiled. "We're gonna be meeting them anyways right? Might as well become friends sooner" Ashley said.

"Yeah, I'm alright with it." Zac nodded. "We're staying over at your house for how many days anyways, and we're gonna be working on your debut, might as well have fun." Zac laughed.

"You guys are the best! And don't worry, they won't scream all over your guys and stuff." She laughed.

"Good." They both replied in unison.

"The fans finally died down a bit." Zac said in relief. "I haven't been chased in a few months." He chuckled as they walked.

"Amen." Ashley said, as Vanessa and Zac laughed.

The gang finished up at the mall, and headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner that they were having with Kenny and some of the producers before they left.

* * *

They talked about when they would be coming back to the set and start working again in a few more weeks, laughed about some jokes and past stories on set, and other things. Chucky had heard about Vanessa's debut and offered to choreograph the dances as a present to her. Vanessa and Chucky were discussing it amongst themselves as Kenny overheard them and thought for a few minutes, then turned to Vanessa.

"Hey Vanessa, so I overheard you're having a Debut." Kenny stated.

"Yep." Vanessa smiled.

"That's one of those Filipino traditions right? Where the girl celebrates her 18th birthday, with a court, dances, and all that, right?" Kenny asked.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Vanessa asked curious.

"I've been to a few." Kenny chuckled. "So, when are you having it?"

"Around my birthday in like 6 months. And don't worry you guys are all invited." Vanessa laughed.

"Thank you. So Chucky is choreographing?" He asked.

"Yeah, he said it would be my present."

"Well, I know these things take a lot of planning, and time, so I thought I could help out too." Kenny smiled.

"Really? How so?"

"Well, we could use more back up dancers, and extras, so if you want, your friends on your court can be extras or dancers, if you like. That way, you could use the other dance rooms to practice for your debut since Chucky is here. They can stay all at the hotel, and be paid a little." Kenny chuckled.

"Oh my gosh!" Vanessa squealed. "Really! You actually mean it!"

"Yes." He smiled. "I just thought you could use that help since the filming for the sequel with take a while longer than it did the first."

"Wow, thank you so much Kenny!" She got up to hug him. "I'll have to talk to them about it, and then they'll have to talk to their parents, but I'll let you know if any of them can."

"Alright then." He smiled then turned to one of the producers who had tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, guys did you hear what Kenny told me!" She asked the gang excitedly.

"What?" Lucas asked as all the others nodded.

"He said that everyone on my court can be extras in the movie so that we can practice for my debut on set! Oh, and Chucky is choreographing too!" She beamed.

"That's great!" Olesya said, followed by everyone else.

A few more hours later, they all called it a night, and headed back to their rooms since they still had to pack their things.

* * *

Zac, Ashley, and Vanessa left the next day a little before noon. As they left, they started to get stuck in LA's traffic, so Vanessa decided to make a phone call, as the traffic became bumper to bumper.

"Hello?" Marc answered. (Just a reminder: He's the one who asked the other girls to be on Vanessa's court for her.)

"Hey Marc." She greeted.

"Hey Nessa, what's shakin'?" He asked.

"Eh, stuck in traffic. What about you?"

"Just watching TV."

"How fun." She replied sarcastically. "Anyways, go to JambaJuice in like two hours."

"Why?" He asked.

"Because I'm gonna visit."

"No way? Haha, cool! Kevin is working right now."

"Yeah I know, that's why I'm gonna go there since he's working right now."

"Oh, I see. Oh, hey, congrats on you two."

"Thanks." She smiled. "Oh, and tell everyone else to go there too!" She said excitedly.

"Everyone?"

"Yeah, especially everyone on my court., I've got some other news!"

"Alright missy." He laughed. "So, mind telling me what this is about?"

"Nope, not yet. You're just gonna have to wait. But I gotta go, so I'll see you in a little."

"Alright, call me when you get here. Later." He hung up, as did Vanessa. Then she turned to Zac who was in the front seat, and then at Ashley who was in the back seat. Ashley was listening to her ipod, while texting on her sidekick. Zac was just staring out the window. Vanessa just focused on the road for a little bit before saying anything to break the silence in the car, or well, between Zac and Vanessa since Ashley was busy.

"So, what are you thinking about?" Vanessa asked Zac as they came to a stop again.

"Huh?" Zac asked turning to her. "Oh, just a bunch of stuff."

"How about a penny for your thoughts?" She giggled.

"Well, there's a lot on my mind, how about two cents." He joked. That was an inside joke they had together.

"Alright, two cents." She laughed.

"Hmm, well, one thing I was thinking about is all these people." He said.

"What do you mean _all these people_?" She asked confused.

"All the people around us, in their cars. Like what they could be thinking and all that. It's kinda fun in a weird way.."

"Right." Vanessa laughed. "So then what's he thinking about?" She asked pointing to the diver to her left.

"What is this, a new road trip game?" He chuckled.

"Of course."

"Alright then." He thought for a few minutes as he examined the man and his car. "He's focused on his work. He stresses too much, and he's just the typical guy, trying to make rent." Zac said.

"What? How can you tell?"

"Well, he loosened his tie, and his shirt is all wrinkled, his car isn't in great condition, but I mean it's not bad. I'm not trying to be cocky or anything, just saying. Plus he's got bags under his eyes." Zac explained.

"Hm, I guess he could be." Vanessa thought.

They played that game with a few more drivers after that, and soon enough they were finally out of traffic.

"Finally! We're out of traffic!" Zac said let out a sigh of relief.

"Looks like we can't play our game anymore." Vanessa laughed

"I guess not." Zac shrugged. "So how long till we get there?"

"Well, I set aside an hour for traffic.. So about a little less than an hour." Vanessa said. Zac nodded, then turned around to see what Ashley was doing. By now, she had pulled out her laptop and was typing away like crazy.

"Uh, Ash, what are you doing?"

"Well, since we got stuck in traffic, and I stopped texting, I thought I'd answer some fan mail." Ashley looked up from her screen.

"You get internet? In my car?" Vanessa asked.

"Yeah, I have a wireless card thingy."

"Oh, I didn't know you had one." Vanessa laughed at herself.

"So, what are the plans for today Nessa?" Ashley asked.

"Well, we're gonna go meet up with some of my old friends that are gonna be in my debut at JambaJuice." She answered.

"Oh man! I haven't had Jamba in a while." Ashley said excitedly.

"Yeah." Zac said.

"I called my parents yesterday." Vanessa told them. "They said they're down there as well."

"Really, why?" Zac turned to her as she focused on the road.

"Well, I was calling them to remind them that you guys were coming home with me, and that we were gonna go down to see everyone before we went home. Then my mom told me that they were at my dad's house because they found another place to look at."

"Deng. Your parents have been looking everywhere." Ashley said.

"Yeah, I think they want to make sure I have a lot of choices, just in case. But anyways, I have the key to that house if you guys wanna stay down there, or the other house."

"Hmm, are your parents gonna be at both houses?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah. My dad has to do something at work tomorrow or something like that, which is why he's staying down here tonight, and I think Stella has a photo shoot or something tomorrow."

"Geez, I guess your sister is already well on her way." Ashley said sarcastically.

"You started at 3 Ash!" Zac and Vanessa said together.

"Jinx!" Vanessa yelled right after.

"Haha, sucks for you Zac." Ashley said. "You can only talk after she says your name three times." She laughed.

"Dun dun dun." Vanessa laughed. Zac just pouted and folded his arms, then sunk even lower into the chair.

"Don't even pull out your puppy dog face out on me Zac." Vanessa said, as she glanced over. Zac quickly sat up at pointed at her.

"Yeah, yeah, so what, I still have to say it two more times." Vanessa said, not even taking her eyes off the road. "Ash, why am I driving again! I thought we said you were gonna drive!"

"Yeah, we did." Ashley agreed. "But technically, we're not exactly going home. Plus Zac and I have no clue where we're heading to."

"True. Whatever, you're driving back to the studio when we start filming."

"Whatever you say." Ashley said, continuing to type. "I don't really mind where we stay though." She added.

"Alright. I guess we'll see." Vanessa said, then Zac started tapping on everything.

"What's wrong with him?" Ashley let out a laugh.

"I don't know." Vanessa laughed as well.

"Hmm, maybe he has to poo." Ashley burst into laughter, but Zac just glared at her.

"Do you have to pee instead?" Vanessa aked laughing. Zac shook his head, and continued to tap on everything, including the two girls.

"Zac, you're nuts, you know that?" Ashley said after a few minutes. He just continued, until it got annoying.

"ZAC! Cut it out!" Vanessa said, losing her patience. "Hello? I'm driving." Vanessa whinned but he kept tapping on her shoulder to his own beat. "Zac quit it!"

"Alright." He simply said and stopped.

"You're such a cheater." Ashley said.

"I know, but I couldn't handle just watching and listening to you two only talking."

"Whatever. We're almost there." Vanessa pointed out.

"Really? Wow, too much fun in this car. Time flew by." Zac chuckled.

"Yep." Vanessa said, turning into a parking lot. There was a little shopping plaza, and she parked nearby Jamba Juice. "I think you guys should put on a jacket... and sun glasses." Vanessa suggested, taking her own advice.

"Why?" Ashley asked quizically.

"Uh, take a look Ash." Zac pointed out his window. "It's a public area where teens hang out I guess." He said referring to the groups of young teens sitting at tables, benches, and along side planters.

"Oh." Ashley mouthed.

"Yeah, I used to hang out here a lot." Vanessa nodded, and looked out through Zac's window to see if she could recognize anyone.

"Shouldn't you call them, and tell them we're here?" Zac asked.

"Nah." Vanessa shook her head.

"Nice. Vanessa's gonna waltz on in until they realize she's here." Ashly giggled. "She did that to me once you know!" Ashley told Zac.

"Hey! I was bored, so I just wanted to see how long it took you." Vanessa laughed.

"Where was this at?" Zac asked as he was putting a jacket on.

"Starbucks. They even called out my name for my drink, and she didn't notice."

"Vanessa is a common name you know." Ashley defended.

"Whatever." Vanessa laughed. "C'mon, let's go." She said opening her door, with the others following her lead. Once they all were out, she locked the car and they all walked together to the little plaza. Vanessa spotted her friends but didn't say a word. Instead she lead Zac and Ashley to a table near her friends and took a seat at the round table with her back facing them, Zac sat directly across from Vanessa, and Ashley sat left to Vanessa.

"Are you serious?" Zac questioned. "We're actually just gonna wait?"

"Yep." She answered.

"They haven't seen you in how long, and you're doing this to them?" He chuckled.

"It's our way of joking around, Zac. They always find me though." She giggled. "I'll bet you 2 minutes tops." She stated.

"Two? Hmm, what's in it for me?" He asked.

"I don't know."

"Oh! Loser buys me plus the winner's drinks." Ashley smiled.

"Alright, deal." Zac said. "I bet you a minute or less." Zac said smirking.

"Are you serious?" Vanessa asked as he nodded his head. "Fine. So it has to be over a minute but can't go over two?"

"Yep." Zac smirked again. "Timing starts... now." He said looking at his watch.

"Messed up Ness." A voice came from behind her, right after Zac finished his sentence.

"What the?" Vanessa said, and turned around. "Marc!" She screamed, and shot out of her chair to give him a hug, which he returned.

"You always do that!" He laughed as they let go.

"You know how I do." She laughed as well. "Oh, this is Ashley and Zac. Guys this is Marc." She introduced. Ashley gave him a small wave and said hello. Zac stood up and reached over the table to shake his hand.

"Hey man." Zac said. "Oh, and Nessa, I win." He smiled.

"You cheated!" Vanessa hit his arm.

"Uhh..." Marc said, giving Vanessa a look.

"Shutup." She said to him, leaving Zac confused. "Anyways, let's go get our drinks while Kev is still working."

"See, you don't even have to pay!" Zac laughed.

"Yeah, but to you. Anywho, don't tell the others I'm here yet" Vanessa said to Marc.

"Alright, they think I'm going to my car anways to go get a jacket." Marc said. "Which I should be doing." He laughed then left.

"So what do you guys want?" Vanessa asked as they made their way to Jamba juice.

"I'm not sure let's go inside, remember Ness, I haven't been here in a while." Ashley reminded her.

"Oh, right." She said. Zac and Ashley told her what they wanted. She noticed Kevin was the only one working as she walked up to the register. After she ordered, he still didn't recognize her.

"He's cute." Ashley mumbled to Vanessa, causing her to laugh.

"And your name Miss?" He asked.

"Ouch." She said.

"Excuse me?" He gave her a look.

"Little mermaid." She laughed.

"Nessa!" He exclaimed.

"Finally!" She said as he came around the register to hug her.

"You're the only one I know who orders her drinks with the name Little Mermaid." He laughed.

"So." She rolled her eyes. "This is Zac and Ashley. Guys, this is Kevin."

"Hey, nice to meet you guys." He shook their hands.

"You too." Zac forced a smile.

"Wait. This is _the _Kevin?" Ashley asked, shocked.

"Uhm, yeah." Vanessa laughed.

"Ohhh." Ashley said, then smiled.

"Well, I guess I better make your drinks" he laughed as they went to take a seat on the stools.

"Wow Ness. I wish I grew up with guys like that." Ashley whispered. Vanessa just laughed and shook her head while Zac was caught in his thoughts.

_So that's Kevin... He's a nice guy at least. _Zac thought. _This is going to be harder than I thought. _He sighed. _Get yourself together Efron. Just put your feelings aside for now. Yeah, that's it. Just be civil with this guy, for Nessa. If he makes her happy, then I should be happy that she's happy. _Zac thought. But he couldn't help but think why he couldn't be with her instead.

"Zac." Ashley waved a hand in his face. "Earth to Zac!" She yelled.

"Huh?" He asked.

"Here's your drink. Kevin finished like two minutes ago, and you've just been sitting here." she said.

"Oh. Where'd they go?" He asked as he looked around, and saw that there was a different person working now.

"They went outside, I thought I'd give them a little alone time, you know?" Ashley said.

"Oh." Zac said softly as Ashley took a seat next to him. _So this really is happening._

"Hey, you wanna talk about it?" Ashley said sympathetically. "I know it's hard for you Zac, and you can't just keep bottling up everything."

"Yeah, I know." He said quietly.

"Well, you know I'm always here for you if you wanna talk."

"Yeah, I know, but it just sucks that he won the race... I mean, I was gonna tell her Ash." He said. Ashley looked at him.

"Are you serious?" she asked. He nodded.

"Yeah, it was that same day when you first spent the night in Mo's and Olesya's suite, and we were hanging out in my room. But then he called right when I was about to tell her. I mean, like RIGHT that second." Zac said emphasized.

"Deng. I'm sorry." That was all Ashley could think of to say.

"It's alright, it's not you're fault. Things happen for a reason, that's all." Zac shrugged. _Yeah right. _He said to himself.

"I guess. But there's other fish in the sea." Ashley said.

"Not like her."

"I know, Zac. But all we can do is be happy for her I guess. I mean, trust me, I rather have her be with you." She patted his shoulder.

"Thanks Ash."

"Hey guys, c'mon." Vanessa said as she walked in with her hand in Kevin's.

"Alright." Ashley and Zac said, standing up, and walked out with them.

The four went to Vanessa's and Kevin's group of friends and took a seat at a table with a few of them sitting at it as if everyone else knew they were already there.

"Hey Kevin. Hey Nessa." Tin said before taking a sip from he drink. Then she did a double take. "Wait, VANESSA!" She squealed.

"Tin!" She screamed, and caught the rest of their friend's attention. Everyone gathered around to give her hugs. Kevin just laughed and tried to make conversation with Ashley and Zac.

"You guys feeling kinda weird?" He asked.

"Just a little." Zac answered him

"Yeah." Ashley chimed in.

"It's alright, everyone's pretty chill." He assured them. "So how was the drive down."

"Oh god. Traffic." Ashley groaned. Kevin and Zac just laughed.

"You weren't even the one driving." Zac laughed.

"So. I was still in the car."

"Right.." Zac said. "Hey, by the way, thanks for the drinks man." Zac held up his cup. "And congrats on you and Nessa." _That was so hard to say. _Zac thought.

"Ditto." Ashley smiled.

"Thanks. And don't worry about the drinks, you're welcome." He gave them a smile.

"Guys, this is Zac, and Ashley." Vanessa said as everyone calmed down. Ashley and Zac stood up and walked over to the group, and Kevin followed. Vanessa introduced everyone one by one as she went down the line.

"This is Jenalyn, Tin, Raiza, Lyssa, you guys already met Marc, Kev's twin brother Karl, and Raymund." Vanessa finished. They all exchanged hellos and shook hands.

"We're all heading over to Marc's, are you guys coming?" Tin asked.

"What's going on at Marc's?" Vanessa asked.

"I have to go home to watch my brother." He replied.

"Oh my gosh! Richard! I haven't seen him since he was ababy!" Vanessa squealed.

"I'll take that as a yes?" Marc laughed.

"Hm, do you guys wanna go?" Vanessa asked Zac and Vanessa.

"Sure." They said in unison.

"We gotta start hanging out with everyone sooner or later." Ashley smiled.

"Great, let's get going then before my mom kills me." Marc said.

* * *

Soo, what do you think? LOL. I tried to keep it long. Thanks for the reviews guys! I really enjoy them. Next chapter will hopefully be up asap, but my siblings keep hogging the computer. grr. well, REVIEW PLEASE! alright later. 


	17. Hope from three who care

Hey guys! Ugh, sorry for not updating for like a week and a half, but i haven't been home, plus I have summer classes, and family came over to visit, and stuff. But even if those things werent in my way, my sisters and brothers would still be hogging the computer, but I've got it for now while everyone is out. Soo here's a quick chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

After they were all finished getting their things, they headed over to Marc's house to hang out. Once they got their, they put in a movie to watch, but ended up talking to each other instead. Vanessa was talking to Kevin, and some of the girls, while Ashley was talking to Kevin's twin brother Karl, and Zac was sitting on the couch watching the movie occasionally talking to Marc's little brother, Richard, who was into the movie, but eventually fell asleep. Vanessa noticed that Zac was a little quiet, and that he was sitting alone, so she excused herself from the conversation she was in and walked over to the couch. She took a seat without him even knowing.

"Hey." She said

"Hmm? Oh, hey Vanessa." Said said without emotion but she just thought he was tired.

"So, good movie? I think you andRichard were the only ones watching it." She giggled a little.

"Uhh, actually I don't know. I've just been thinking you know, kinda spaced out." Zac explained.

"Ohh, I see. So, what's on your mind? I know you're not thinking the same things as you did on the way down here. There's no drivers to look at in their cars." She joked.

"Nothing interesting." Zac shrugged.

"C'mon, everything is interesting in it's own way, you just have to find how."

"Uhh." Zac gave her a funny look.

"I read it in a book somewhere." Vanessa explained.

"Oh. I was about to say..." He chuckled.

"C'mon Zac. Something is bugging you and I know it. You know you can tell me anything."

"Yeah, I know Vanessa."

"See. Something is wrong. You're actually calling me by my full name... next thing you know, you'll be adding the Anne."

"Funny." He said.

"Are you tired? We can head out if you want." She suggested.

"No, no it's okay. We came here so you could hang out with Kevin and your friends. And.." But he was cut off.

"No, it's okay. I just wanted you guys to meet them. Yeah, I wanted to see them of course, but it was more important to me that you guys met." She said getting up.

"Hey guys, sorry, but we've gotta get going." Vanessa announced.

"Awww." The girls all pouted.

"Yeah, I know, but we still gotta drive." Vanessa said. They all nodded their heads as they understood.

"Hey Ness, did you tell them?" Ashley asked as she walked up next to her.

"Tell them what?" Vanessa looked confused.

"Oh my gosh. The movie..." Ashley mumbled.

"Oh my goodness! You're right." Vanessa put the palm of her hand to her head. "I forgot about that since we just talked about it last night." Everyone but Zac and Ashley gave her a weird look.

"What are you talking about Nessa?" Karl asked.

"Well, you guys all know Kenny Ortega, the director of HSM?" Vanessa asked. They all nodded.

"Yeah, what about him?" Jenalyn asked.

"Well, he found out that I was having a debut, and..." Vanessa said excitedly, but stopping to put them in suspense.

"And..." Lyssa continued, rolling her hands.

"And... he said that everyone on my court can be dancers or extras in the movie so it would be easier to practice! You guys get to stay at the hotel with the other extras and everything!" She smiled.

"Are you serious!" Everyone's jaws dropped except for Ashley, Vanessa, and Zac. Vanessa was still smiling radiantly, Ashley was giggling at some of their facial expressions, and Zac was staring out in space... again.

_The hotel...extras... that means she'll probably want to spend most of her time with Kevin._ Zac thought then sighed and put on a fake smile.

"Hey Zac.. we're leaving now." Ashley waved a hand in his face while Vanessa was hugging everyone goodbye. Then Ashley turned away to say goodbye as well, and Zac followed her lead. After their goodbyes, they walked out to Vanessa's car, but Vanessa forgot her purse and ran back in to get it while Zac and Ashley waited in the car for her.

"You know you should really tell her how you feel... even if she is with Kevin. I mean it's killing you that you didn't get it off your chest." Ashley said once they were both in the car.

"No it's not." Zac said.

"Yes it is, Zac. I can see it in your eyes, plus the way you've been acting ever since." Ashley simply said.

"Fine. But I don't want to ruin her happiness Kevinis all, alright? I don't want to confuse her and start a whole bunch of drama. I'm a guy Ash, I try to avoid the drama, unless I'm acting."

"Whatever, it's not like girls like drama. But anyways, I still think you should tell her. I know that somewhere deep down, Nessa feels the same way you do." She said sympathetically.

"And yet she said yes to Kevin." Zac added.

"Yeah, she said yes to him, so what. She could've done it without thinking it the whole way through, or because you were too nervous and took too long."

"Hey! It's not my fault she makes me feel this way. It's different with her Ash... You don't understand." Zac fumbled with his hands.

"Hm, you're right. I don't understand because I wasn't blessed to find 'the one' so early in life like you two. She makes your heart skip a beat, yatta yatta yatta. But you still need to tell her, she has a right to know. I don't know if she already does know it and she's in denial, or if Vanessa is blind." Ashley said, but didn't realize Vanessa had got into the car as Ashley was saying she was blind.

"Shutup. So what if I wear glasses." Vanessa laughed. (a/n: I dunno if she actually does wear glasses, I saw a pic of her with glasses, but if she doesn't... then let's just pretend. LOL!)

"Uhh.." Zac said.

"Just kidding around Ness.. kidding around." Ashley saved herself.

"Anyways, I just called my dad, and he said that we should stay at the other house because he's gonna be coming up after work tomorrow anyways to go look at more places." Vanessa said. Zac and Ashley nodded.

"Are you sure you wanna drive, Ness?" Ashley asked. "You already drove down here and you kinda look tired."

"I'm fine. I think I can make it through tonight." Vanessa reassured them.

"No." Zac simply said and got out of the car and walked over to the driver side and opened the door. "Switch" He said.

"What?" Vanessa asked confused.

"You are tired, and I don't want you to risk your life or ours by driving drowsy." Zac said pulling her out of the car. "C'mon. You can still sit in the front if that makes you feel any better." Zac laughed.

"But Zac.." She whinned. "I'm not tired, I swear."

"So. Then you deserve a break." He said getting into the driver seat. "Now get in, or else we'll leave you." He said starting the car.

"Okay, okay. Geez, trying to leave without me in MY car." She said walking around the car.

Zac drove all the way back to LA. Ashley was answering more fan mail online but eventually fell asleep, while he and Vanessa were just making conversation every now and then.

Zac pulled up a little before midnight onto the Hudgens' driveway. He didn't bother to wake up the two girls, instead he walked up to the front door and opened it with the house key on the car's keyring. He saw Mrs. Hudgens and Falisha watching a movie downstairs and greeted them.

"Hey Mrs. Hudgens, hey Falisha." Zac smiled.

"Hey Zac." Falisha smiled back.

"Oh hello Zac."

"Where's Ness? And isn't Ashley supposed to be here too?" Falisha asked.

"Yeah, they're both sleeping in the car. I drove back up because I didn't want Vanessa falling asleep behind the wheel even though she claimed she wasn't tired." Zac said.

"Thank you." Gina smiled. "I don't want you guys getting hurt."

"No problem Mrs. Hudgens."

"I'll go move my stuff out of the guest room so you can sleep there. I'll sleep in the other guest room with Jayden." Falisha said getting up.

"Oh, there's no need. I'm fine with the couch." Zac said.

"Nonsense Zac, you're a guest." Gina laughed.

"But so is Falisha." Zac chuckled.

"Zac, I practically live here." She laughed. "I don't mind really, I usually fall asleep in one of the other rooms anyways, so it's clean."

"Well, if it's not too much trouble." Zac shrugged.

"Of course not, Zac." Gina said.

"Yeah, and Ashley can just sleep in Nessa's room. Like always." Falisha laughed again.

"Alright, I'll go get the bags then." Zac said.

"Do you need any help honey?" Gina asked.

"No, I'm fine." Zac assured her. "I put them in the car in the first place." Zac chuckled again. He went out to get the bags and brought his into the guest room and the girls' to Vanessa's room. Surprisingly, Ashley and Vanessa still didn't wake up as he was doing all of this.

"They still didn't wake up after slamming doors and everything?" Falisha asked coming down the stairs.

"Nope." Zac laughed. "I think I'll carry them in." Zac said walking out the door. Ashley was spread out across the back seat, so he gently grabbed Vanessa's arms and put them around his neck and lifted her out of her seat and carried her towards the door since it was easier to get her out of the car first. As Zac was walking into the open front door of the house, he stopped abruptly as he saw two flashes.

"What the.." He mumbled.

"Sorry . Couldn't help it." Falisha giggled, holding her digital camera, then he looked at Mrs. Hudgens.

"Hey, she did it too!" Gina defended herself like a child. Zac just rolled his eyes and walked up the stairs. He walked into Vanessa's room and laid her down on her bed. He paused and stared at her for a moment then kissed her forehead goodnight, only to be caught by another flash from Falisha.

"You've got to be kidding me." Zac just laughed quietly. "Goodnight Ness." He said walking out of the room to Falisha.

"Delete those." was all he said to her, then made his way back downstairs.

"Never!" Falisha laughed. On his way downstairs, Zac saw Ashley coming through the front door with Mrs. Hudgens holding some of Ashley's things; like her laptop.

"Sorry, I didn't want to leave her out there alonewith the car open, so I woke her up and told her to come in." Gina said.

"It's fine. You're sleeping in Nessa's room Ash." Zac told her. She nodded, and walked sleepily upstairs. "I'll go lock the car." Zac said.

"Already done." Gina smiled.

"Oh, alright, well, I'll just take these from you." he said, getting Ashley's things from her, "And bring them upstairs for Ashley." He brought her things upstairs, then came back down. He wasn't really tired so he walked into the living room where Gina was.

"Mind if I join you?" Zac asked politely.

"Sure. Sit down." Gina smiled. "You're not tired at all?" Zac shook his head.

"I'm used to the long hours, but we didn't really do anything vigorous today." He shrugged.

"So what did you guys do today?"

"We went down to meet some of Vanessa's friends."

"Oh, her boyfriend and the rest of them?" Gina asked. Zac's face slightly cringed at the title "boyfriend" and Gina noticed.

"It's okay Zac. As much as I love Kevin, I really hoped you two would get together."

"What?" Zac asked.

"Well, I'm off to bed. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen, or watch whatever. Don't stay up too long though." Gina said getting up. "Goodnight Zac."

"Goodnight Mrs. Hudgens. And thank you!" He said.

"Anything for you." She smiled before she walked away.

Zac sat there watching TV for a few minutes, flipping through the channels until Falisha came into the room and sat on the other couch.

"Hey." She said plopping onto the couch.

"Hey." Zac said, still flipping through the channels.

"Something wrong? You're like flipping through the channels like crazy." Falish asked.

"Hm? No, there's just nothing appealing on, that's all."

"Right. So... what did you think of Kevin?" She cut right to the chase.

"He's a good guy." Zac shrugged.

"Yeah... but you aren't saying what you feel." She gave him a look.

"How do you know?"

"Whatever." She laughed. "Look, I know how it feels. Girls go through this all the time because they want the guy to make the first move. So, we wait.. and wait.. and wait until we give up on the guy and move on. But trust me, I don't think she's given up on you just yet." She said getting up and patting Zac on the shoulder as she passed by. "I'm off to bed. See you in the morning, Night."

"Night." Zac spoke. He sat there until he heard Falisha reach the top of the stairs. He turned off the TV and the lights, then headed to the guest room to change, and go to sleep.

* * *

Well, I hoped you liked it! REVIEW PLEASE. annd by the way thanks for all the reviews guys. I really appreciate them. Hmmm, there were quite a few people sending me PMs about how Zac wouldn't be like this and wait this long.. well, i don't exactly know him, so you can't really blame me besides the fact that this is a fiction story. Let's just pretend that he's in love and Vanessa is the person that makes him most nervous. LOL. Just play along with the story guys, if you don't like it don't read it, it's pretty simple.. i'm not trying to be mean or anything but yeah. Well, I'm gonna go and try to write another chapter while i still have the computer. LOL. Byeee.


	18. A little bit of this,&little bit of that

Okay, I'm back. Like I promised, here's a chapter! Well, I looked at how many words this is, this is basically almost EIGHT chapters, considering the normal size of my chapters. LOL. Well I'll just cut the the chase; ENJOY!

* * *

Gina was the first one awake in the house, so she decided to start cooking breakfast. Surprisingly, Zac was the second one awake, but had no idea. He got out of bed and took a shower, thinking that since he was the first one awake, he might as well. After he was done with his shower, he walked into the kitchen and found Mrs. Hudgens cooking awake.

"Morning Mrs. Hudgens." Zac said happily.

"Oh, good morning Zac. I didn't know you were awake." She replied, turning around to see him.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't really that tired, and I'm used to waking up early because of work and all." He told her.

"Well, that's a good habit at least. Come, sit down and eat." She said handing him a plate.

"Alright, thanks."

"You're welcome sweetie. I guess Vanessa and Ashley were really tired. Those two are usually the first ones awake." Gina laughed.

"I guess they're just tired from talking too much yesterday." Zac joked. Just then Falisha walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning you two!" She said cheerfully.

"Why are you up early? You always sleep late." Gina asked.

"Oh, Jed and me are gonna go jogging." Falisha informed them.

"I see." Gina nodded and continued cooking. "So are you coming with us to the halls Falisha?"

"Uhm, I'm not sure... can Jed come?" She asked.

"Of course."

"Alright, then we'll drive my car and follow you guys." Falisha said. "So Zac, what do you guys have planned for today? Anything... special?" Falisha winked.

"No..." Zac said looking at her weird. "Uh, I think we were gonna go look at the halls too. Ness really wanted to see them after what we saw in the pictures."

"Right." She rolled her eyes.

"So, you delete those pictures yet?" Zac asked hopefully. "You too Mrs. Hudgens." Zac chuckled.

"What! No way!" Falisha exclaimed.

"Nope." Gina simply answered. "You should know Zac, I never delete any pictures I take until I print them or save them to a CD."

"She's not kidding. She has loads of pictures." Falisha laughed. Zac let out a groan.

"Why'd you guys take a picture though?" He asked.

"Denial. Denial. The first step is admitting it Zac." Falisha said, mocking a serious manner.

"She's right. You can't bottle everything up sweetie. It's bad for your health." Gina said as she began placing more food on the table.

"You guys still didn't answer my question." He managed to laugh.

"Well then you have to answer a question in return." Falisha winked at Gina.

"Uhm, alright..." Zac said unsure.

"And you have to answer truthfully otherwise... I get to have your GUCCI aviators."

"What? But those are my favorite."

"Well then, answer truthfully." Falisha smirked.

"Morning guys." Stella walked into the kitchen in her pajama's and a cami.

"Morning." Falisha and Gina greeted.

"Morning Stella." Zac smiled as she didn't even realize Zac was there.

"Zac!" her eyes widened. "Whoa! When did you get here!" She said as she ran up to him to give him a hug.

"Last night." He said as he gave her a hug.

"Wait, so Nessa and Ashley are here too?" She asked.

"Yeah, they're still sleeping though." Gina answered for him.

"C'mon Zac. Anytime soon, I'm leaving soon you know..." Falisha reminded him.

"What's going on?" Stella asked but her question was ignored.

"Well, you two didn't answer mine." He defended himself.

"Fine. We thought it would be cute. Once you said you were gonna carry them in, it meant Nessa too." Falisha said.

"It was a Kodak moment." Gina smiled.

"What's going on!" Stella demanded.

"Oh, we took a picture of Zac carrying Ness into the house last night... and I got another one of him kissing her forehead before saying goodnight while she was sleeping." Falisha smiled.

"What! I MISSED IT!" Stella gasped.

"I missed the goodnight kiss!" Gina gasped as well.

"I'll give you a copy auntie." Falisha laughed.

"Good." Gina said satisfied.

"Alright now you have to answer my question." Falisha smirked.

"In front of Stella?" He asked.

"Hey! What's wrong with me!" She asked.

"Yes. But hold on a sec." She said as she dashed out of the kitchen then came back with her camera.

"Sorry Stella, there's nothing wrong. I was just asking." He told her. "You're recording it!" Zac exclaimed.

"Yes. For Jayden. I don't want to wake her up, she's tired from a dance competition yesterday. If Stella gets to know, then so does she." She said.

"Fine." He caved. "I have a feeling I know what the question is already.." he said. "Can we go to my room?"

"Sure.." Falisha said. Once they got there he sat on the bed and Falisha hit the recording button.

"Alright. Say your name, age, the date, and the time first." She demanded.

"I thought you were gonna ask me a question, not give me an interview." he said.

"Just do it." Falisha laughed.

"Alright. I'm Zac Efron, I'm 19, I don't know what today is.." He started to think of the date.

"It's the June 16." Stella said.

"Right. It's June 16th, 2006, and it's about 8:30 am." He said.

"Good." Falisha said. "Now the question. And look straight at the camera." She said and Zac did as she said. Gina was standing behind Falisha trying to hold in her laughter. Stella was still somewhat clueless of what was going on.

"Hello?" They heard someone call out.

"Ugh. You so got lucky Zac." Falisha said turning off her camera.

"Hey, where is everyone?" They heard another voice.

"We're all right here." Gina said as she, Stella, Falisha, and Zac came out.

"What were you guys doing in there?" Vanessa asked.

"Uh.." Falisha started.

"Uhm." Zac said.

"Talking about you. Duh." Stella laughed.

"what?" Vanessa asked.

"I'm kidding Nessa. We were talking about your, uhm, birthday present!" Stella covered.

"But my birthday isn't for..." Vanessa started.

"So, these things take time. Anyways, hi Ness." Stella said as she gave her a hug. "Morning Ashley!"

"Hey Stella." Vanessa said.

"Hey Stella! Oh my gooodness. I haven't seen you in so long!" Ashley gave her a tight hug.

"You wont be able to if you don't let me breathe." Stella managed to say in Ashley's tight grip. Everyone laughed.

"Sorry. I just missed you." Ashley said.

"I missed you too." Stella smiled. "Can we eat now?"

"I'm starving." Vanessa said as they all made their way to the kitchen. They all started eating except for Falisha and Zac.

"Why aren't you two eating?" Ashley asked.

"I'm going jogging soon." Falisha answered.

"And I woke up way earlier than you two, so I already got first dibs on the food." Zac chuckled. Then the doorbell rang.

"That's for me, I'll be back soon!" Falisha said, grabbing a water bottle from the fridge. "Oh, and Zac we'll finish this later." She said to him

"Whatever." Zac laughed.

"What was that about?" Ashley asked after she left.

"Oh, um, we just made a deal." Zac said from his stool at the island.

"Hmm, must be something interesting, knowing Sha..." Vanessa said.

"You have no idea." Stella and Gina said together.

"Ditto on what they said." Zac laughed.

"So what is it then?" Ashley asked.

"Nothing." He said.

"Alright..." Ashley gave him a weird look. "So, what are the plans for today?"

"Uhm, we're gonna go see the halls today, right mom?" Vanessa asked.

"Yeah, we've got appointments starting around 2:30. Your dad won't be here until one." Gina replied.

"Hm. I'm not sure then, Ash. What do you guys wanna do until then?" She asked.

"I don't know." Zac shrugged.

"Me neither." Ashley said. "What else do you still have to plan?"

"Well, I've got all the guys, and girls down. I just have to pair them up, but I'll do that after I see everyone together. Hm, I've got the colors picked out, what the guys are gonna wear, girls for candles, the guys for my roses..." She listed.

"Wow, you've got a lot planned out already." Gina said, surprised.

"Yeah, Zac was helping me, we basically got all that done in one night." Vanessa said as Zac nodded.

"Where was I?" Ashley asked confused.

"In Mo's and Olesya's suite." Zac answered.

"Oh." Ashley said. "Well, you still need to pick out the dresses."

"Yeah." Vanessa agreed.

"So what color are the dresses going to be? Or actually the whole thing.." Stella asked.

"Well, red is the main color, and gold and silver are minor colors. The girls' dresses are gonna be red, and I was thinking mine would be gold or silver, maybe white." Vanessa said.

"Ohh, that sounds pretty." Stella said.

"Yeah!" Ashley agreed. "Let's go look for dresses right now." Ashley said excitedly.

"But what about Zac?" Stella asked. "I don't think he wants to.."

"It's cool." Zac shrugged. "I gotta deal with these two more anyways." Zac chuckled.

"Well, why don't you guys look for a place that has what you had in mind for the guys, then you can see how it looks on Zac." Gina suggested.

"Good idea Mrs. Hudgens. Hah, we get to dress up Zac!" Ashley clapped her hands.

"At least I know it won't be a dress." He whispered to Stella, who burst into laughter.

"Well, then let's go great ready. Vanessa said. "Coming mom?"

"Of course. But we have to be back around one." Gina said.

"Okie dokes."

"You can use the shower down here, Ash. I already took my shower this morning." Zac told her.

"Geez, I guess you did wake up early..." Ashley laughed. "Thanks."

"No problem." Zac said.

Vanessa woke Jayden up and asked if she wanted to come, but she refused and just wanted to sleep. So she told them to pick her up later and she'd go with them to look at the halls. After everyone was finished getting ready, they headed to the mall, small boutiques, and other stores to look around for dresses. Vanessa had found four possible dresses that she would wear, and found three different possible dresses for the girls to wear. She didn't want to decide just yet since they didn't have much time on their hands for that day. After they were finished looking for dresses, they went to a nice tuxedo shop nearby to look for what she and Zac had planned for the guys to wear.

"Wow. Who knew there were so many kinds of suits." Stella said as they walked into the store filled with suits all over differed from colors, sizes, shapes, styles, you name it.

"Yes, well, we try to fit everyone's needs." A young gentlemen in a nicely fitted suit came up to them. He had dark brown hair what was slightly spiked, greenish gray eyes, tall, and you could see that he indeed had a nice body structure. "Hi," he held out his hand to shake with Stella. "My name is Christian, or you may call me Chris, and I'll be helping you today." He gave a genuine smile to everyone else.

"Whoa.." Stella said starstruck.

"Stella keep your mouth shut. You're drooling." Ashley bent down and whispered to Stella. Stella popped chin back in place and just smiled. Ashley giggled.

"Hi, we're looking for those penguin tail tuxedos in black and white." Vanessa explained.

"Hm, I think I can help you out there Miss..." He began.

"Vanessa." She finished.

"Well, Miss Vanessa, follow me this way, and I'll show you our selection." He smiled again.

"Thank you. And there's no need to call me 'Miss', it makes me feel weird. Vanessa is fine." She said as she followed him.

"Alright." He just said as they came to a stop. "Now, are you looking for a tuxedo for someone in particular.. or are you.."

"Uhm, actually we're eventually going to need ten of them, but we're just here to see how they look. Zac here is going to be wearing one of the nine, and we wanted to see how it would look all together, or see if we wanted a different kind of tuxedo." Vanessa said.

"Alright. Mr. Zac, do you know your measurements?" Christian asked.

"Uh." Zac said as he brought a hand up to the back of his head and scratched it. "Actually I don't." He gave a sheepish smile. "I've never really been measured for a tux."

"It's fine. Most men never know." Chris laughed. "Come this way and Thomas will get your measurements." He said leading Zac into a room in the back. While Zac was getting measured, Chris came back. And what colors did you want Zac to try on?"

"How about both black and white."

"And the vest?"

"Silver please, with a white dress shirt underneath, and white gloves, black shoes with the black suit and white with the white." Vanessa said, remembering what they decided on.

"Alright then. Are you going to have them wear a handkerchief in their jacket?" Chris asked last.

"I haven't really thought about that... Can we see it with a silver one?"

"Yes, of course. Have a seat there, and I'll have Mr. Zac out soon." Chris said before he left.

Stella, Gina, Vanessa, and Ashley took a seat of the chairs that Chris had directed them to.

"Wow, honey, you handled that all by yourself pretty well." Gina said.

"Yeah, well, we already planned it out what the guys would wear, so it was pretty easy." Vanessa shrugged.

"That guy is cute. Wait, no, hot." Ashley finally spoke.

"Ditto on that." Stella said.

"Stella!" Gina said.

"What! He was." Stella let out a laugh.

"Aye." Gina said shaking her head.

"So, Ness, what do you think of him?" Ashley asked.

"Ash, I'm in a relationship remember?" Vanessa looked at her.

"Fine, fine. But let's say hypothetically, you were single. Free as a bird, no strings attached, you didn't have a crush on anyone and vise versa. What would you rate that guy, 1-10, 1 being the worst."

"Hmm, if you put it that way.." Vanessa sat there. "an 8."

"Honey, he's a freakin' 20 in my book!" Ashley said grinning ear to ear.

"He looks really familiar though." Vanessa said, thinking.

"Hmm, maybe you know him. He looks about 18..19.. ohh, maybe 20, a little closer to me." Ashley laughed.

"Yeah, but you still act like you're 15." Vanessa laughed. "But the last Chris I knew was a long time ago, other than the Chris we know right now."

"Interesting." Ashley nodded her head.

"Mom, do you remember Chris? The one I used to play with all the time in San Diego? He lived a few houses down or something like that." Vanessa asked her mother.

"Chris..." Gina started to think for a while. "Oh, yeah. Your cute little boyfriend." Gina laughed.

"What?" Ashley and Stella said together, surprised.

"Mom, he wasn't my boyfriend!" Vanessa spat.

"Funny, because I remember him ringing the doorbell once and asked 'Hi! Can I play at the park with my Girlfriend Vanessa?'" Gina said, remembering the past.

"Are you serious!" Vanessa asked as her mother nodded.

"That has got to be the cutest thing ever. Your first boyfriend, Ness. Aww." Ashley smiled.

"How could you remember that, and not me if he really was." Vanessa asked.

"I don't know honey, a lot has happened in your life since then, maybe it slipped."

"I guess." She shrugged as Gina began to answer Stella's and Ashley's questions about it.

_You know, now that I think about it, I do remember us playing one day. _Vanessa thought. _He was pushing me on the swings.. and then he stopped me and asked me to be his girlfriend. I said yes. _Vanessa smiled at the memory from long ago. _I never really thought of it as much. I was only in 4th grade for goodness sake. _Vanessa laughed at her own comments in her mind.

"Uh, Ness? Why are you laughing?" Stella poked her arm to get her attention.

"Huh? Oh, I was just thinking... I always thought I didn't get my first boyfriend till around 6th or 7th grade, and I forgot about Chris, but then I just remembered him asking me." Vanessa explained.

"You are so telling me this later." Ashley said. "Anyways, what did he look like?"

"Well, at the time he was kinda chubby." Vanessa laughed a little. "Brown messy hair, greenish grayish eyes, and he had this really small mole by corner of his.." Vanessa explained, trying to remember but was cut of by Ashley.

"Right eye?" Ashley asked, somewhat hopefully, but at the same time curious.

"Yeah! How'd you know?" Vanessa tilted her head a bit.

"Say hello to your first boyfriend Ness." Ashley said pointing to Chris as he made his way towards them.

"Wow. Ash, you have pretty good eyes to see that far to see that tiny thing." Stella said referring to the tiny mole by the corner of his eye.

"Yeah." Ashley said as she stared at Chris.

"Oh my god." Vanessa's jaw dropped. _Chris?_ "No. It can't be... It can't."

"Zac is almost finished, ladies." He smiled as he walked up to them, and stood there waiting for Zac.

"Alright, Thank you." Gina said as she noticed her daughter was somewhat in shock.

"Hey, um, Chris? If you don't mind, what's your last name?" Ashley asked. Vanessa's eyes grew big and Stella giggled at the sight.

"Uhm, well, Miss.." He started.

"Ashley is fine. No need for the 'Miss'" She giggled.

"Oh, right then. Well, Ashley, no, I don't mind telling you. My last name is Wilson." He answered, then Ashley turned to Vanessa and propped an eyebrow up. Vanessa went blank. It was her first boyfriend. The last time she saw him was in 5th grade, before he moved to another house somewhere in San Diego.

"Interesting." Ashley said. "Well, thank you... for telling me."

"Anytime for a beautiful lady. Anything else about me you'd like to know?"

"Hmm, anything you'd like to tell us I suppose."

"Just turned 19. I was started school late when I was younger due to the fact I moved around a lot and sometimes didn't stay long enough to go to school. This is just one of my jobs. I currently attend UCLA. Hm, surfing is my sport, the beach is my place..." He went on.

"Wow, this guy is too perfect." Ashley whispered to Vanessa. Vanessa just sat there silently.

"Well, aren't you gonna tell him?" Stella asked in a low whisper.

"Yeah, Ness, reunion time!" Ashley joked.

"Shut up you guys." Vanessa said a little too loud.

"Excuse me?" Chris turned away from the conversation he was having with Gina about the costs. "Did you guys say something?"

"Uh.. no." Vanessa said quickly.

"Actually." Ashley interrupted. "Vanessa wanted to ask you something." She nudged Vanessa.

"Oh, well, ask away then." Chris smiled.

"Yeah, Ness..." Ashley and Stella giggled.

"Uhm..." Vanessa hesitated, but then pulled herself together, realizing that she's done harder things in her life. "You don't remember me, do you?" She asked tilting her head to the side a bit.

"I'm not exactly sure of what you're talking about..." Chris said in a state of confusion.

"I'm Vanessa..." She just said.

"Yes, we were introduced at the door.." He said still unsure of what she was talking about.

"From San Diego... You used to go to elementary with me, but you" She started.

"Moved away." He finished, wide-eyed. "Whoa. Oh my god, Vanessa?" He exclaimed. She nodded as a grin came across her face.

"How could I not remember. You were my first girlfriend!" Vanessa just laughed.

"It's good to see you again too." She stood up to hug him.

"Wow." Was all he could say after they let go of the embrace and looked at her. "You've definitely changed a lot... for the better of course." He smiled.

"Thanks! So have you. I mean, I almost didn't recognize you if it weren't for your distinguishing mole." She joked.

"Ah, yes, the famous mole of mine. I remember we used to joke about it." He laughed. "So why didn't you say anything earlier?" He asked.

"Well, I really didn't know. I just thought you looked familiar until I thought it through and my mom reminded me of embarrassing moments.."

"I knew you looked familiar." Chris turned to Gina.

"You've become a handsome young man." Gina smiled.

"Ditto on that." Stella said.

"Stella!" Gina said.

"You got that right Stella." Ashley said. Vanessa just rolled her eyes.

"This is my little sister Stella, I think my mom was pregnant with her back then, which is why you don't know her." Vanessa explained.

"I see, well it's very nice to meet you..." He said to Stella.

"You have no idea." Stella muttered.

"I didn't know it was you when you walked in." He turned back to Vanessa, "so what have you been up to these days? Still doing the whole acting in theater productions?"

"Actually yeah, kinda." Vanessa nodded.

"Psh, more like acting professionally in movies and on TV." Ashley butted in.

"Wow, really?" He asked.

"Guilty." Vanessa said sheepishly. "But she's an actress too." She said pointing to Ashley. "This is one of my best friends, Ashley Tisdale."

"Wow, pleasure to meet you."

"Same." Ashley smiled.

"So, what have you been in? Or who have you been working for?"

"Well, since the last time I saw you, I've been doing commercials and some small parts on shows, then I landed a part in Thirteen and another one in Thunderbirds, then a few more shows and commercials, then I did High School Musical with Ashley here, and was a guest on her show a few times, and now we're working on the sequel to High School Musical." She said.

"Wow. I'm sorry to say that I haven't really seen you in any of those, or heard of them. Or well, I heard about High School Musical, and saw a commercial about it."

"Yeah, they're two of the main characters." Stella pointed out.

"Cool, I think I'll watch it sometime." He said. Just then Zac came out in the white tux.

"Whoa." Vanessa said quietly, as she was surprised at how well the tux looked on him.

"You know, Zac looks pretty good in the white tux..." Ashley said.

"So how's this ladies?" Zac held out his arms a little.

"It looks good, wait no, it looks great!" Ashley said.

"Yeah, you look great Zac." Vanessa said as Gina and Stella nodded.

"Aw, not 'fantasticalicious' Ness?" Zac asked, causing all the girls to laugh.

"Fine, you look fantasticalicious." Vanessa laughed, remembering the commercial they did.

"Good." Zac said satisfied.

"Okay, go put on the black one before we run out of time." Vanessa said, looking at the time.

"Yes ma'am!" He saluted, then marched off.

"Loser." Ashley laughed. They all waited as Zac changed, and talked about Chris' and Vanessa's past until Zac came out in the black tux.

"So you and Zac dating?" Chris asked.

"Oh, uhm, no, we're just really good friends." Vanessa said, not knowing that Zac overheard on his way over to them.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just assumed that.." Chris started.

"It's fine. I'm actually dating Kevin, I don't know if you remember him or if you knew him..." Vanessa said.

"Kevin... Kevin... nope, doesn't ring a bell."

"Hm, maybe that's when he moved there while you moved away." she laughed then saw Zac walking towards them.

"So...?" Zac said posing for them.

"It looks good too. I like what we picked." Vanessa said. "Now go change, we're running out of time, we still have to pick up Jayden since she's still sleeping."

"Alright alright." Zac said as he went back to the fitting room.

"That reminds me, can you call the house Stella and make sure Jayden is almost ready, or awake at least." Gina said.

"Okay, mom." Stella said, obeying her mother.

"Come on up to the front, and I'll set up your order form for all the tuxedos." Chris said. They all walked up to the front cashier where Chris filled out forms and had them signed, by the time they were finished, Zac came out to them. Once all the forms were filled out, Vanessa signed the last one.

"Oh! Hey, Chris, can I get your number and address?" Vanessa asked. Zac eyes went wide.

_Whaat! _Zac thought.

"Yeah, sure thing." Chris smiled. "Just hold on a sec." He said, and pulled out something from his wallet then wrote down his cell and home phone numbers and address, then handed it to her.

"What's this?" Vanessa asked as she turned over the card he wrote on.

"It's a picture of you and me before I left. I never got a chance to give you your copy after my mom took it, and I forgot your address, so i just kept it in my wallet this whole time." He said.

"Oh my gosh, I remember this day. It was from the school dance..." Vanessa recalled.

"Yep." Chris said. Zac was still confused.

"Well, we better get going." Gina said.

"It was great seeing you!" Vanessa hugged him.

"You too Vanessa." He hugged her back.

"You know, you could call me Nessa, or Ness." She said.

"Right." He said. "Well, call me sometime, and we can chill."

"Will do." Vanessa said, looking at the information he wrote down. "Hey! You live a few blocks away... how weird."

"You're kidding right?" He laughed.

"Nope. Well, I'll call you."

"You better... and, you can get my number from Vanessa if you want." He said to Ashley and winked.

"Hmm, I think I will." Ashley smiled before walking out.

"Bye." Stella said, walking out.

"Bye."

* * *

They headed back to the house to pick up Jayden, then they were off to the first hall they were looking at. They met up with Mr. Hudgens there. Falisha called them and told them that she had to work last minute, so she couldn't make it. After that hall they went to look at another, following the same routine over and over through several hotels in LA. They finally went to the last one, which happened to be the biggest one they saw that day.

"And here is where the waiters go through to serve food from the kitchen, unless you choose to have a buffet-style serving for the night, then this is where it would be set up." The guide said. "Our guests usually have a dance floor somewhere around here, since it's the middle." The man continued to explain. "Feel free to look around." He said.

Stella and Jayden needed to use the restroom, so Ashley offered to take them to it. Mr. and Mrs. Hudgens walked around the huge hall discussing things, while Vanessa and Zac were walking around, talking about things.

"This place is perfect." Vanessa said.

"Yeah, it's nice." Zac said.

"I mean, it's practically the whole floor of this hotel." Vanessa said as she looked around. The room was quite big, shaped rectangular. On one end was a glass wall that had an astonishing view of the ocean and beaches. Behind the glass wall was a big balcony that the guests could go out to through the glass doors and enjoy the view. There were tall, beautiful oak doors that the guests would enter through, and the place was big enough for the number of people she had in mind to invite.

"C'mon, let's go see the balcony." Zac suggested.

"Okay." Vanessa said. They walked out onto the balcony and leaned against the silver railing.

"This view is crazy." Zac said.

"Yeah. I think this is where I want it." Vanessa said.

"Well, I must say, this is probably my favorite of all the ones we saw today." Zac chuckled.

"Mine too." Vanessa said, looking out into the ocean. There was a silence for a few minutes until Zac spoke.

"Hey, uhm, so you knew the Chris guy?" Zac asked, even though that wasn't really what he planned on saying.

"Oh, yeah, he used to live by me when I was younger. He was kinda my first boyfriend... but he moved."

"Small world." Zac laughed a little.

"Yeah." Vanessa agreed, then there was another silence between them, until Zac broke it again.

"Hey, um, can we talk?" He asked.

"We are talking Zac." Vanessa giggled.

"Hah, yeah... Well, I need to tell you something." He said, still staring out into the ocean.

"Okay.. Shoot." Vanessa said, trying to look him in the eye.

"Alright." He took a deep breath. "But I don't want you to feel pity or anything. And I'm not doing this to intentionally do anything nor am I expecting much."

"Is something wrong Zac?" She looked concerned.

"Just let me finish. "I'm just doing this for me, because well, I really need to get it out." He paused and looked her in the eye. "I'm.. I..."

"They freakin' locked the bathrooms, so we had to go all the way to the lobby!" Ashley came out on to the balcony with Stella and Jayden.

"Dude I almost peed in my pants!" Stella laughed.

"Uhm, nevermind Ness." Zac just said.

"Uh, alright Zac." Vanessa said confused.

"So, what do you think?" Greg asked, walking in with Gina.

"I love it!" Vanessa said happily. "I think I want to have it here! Wait, I know I want to have it here, it's absolutely perfect!" She squealed.

"Oh my gosh! This place is so nice, good choice Ness." Ashley squealed.

"Alright then, let's go get this booked." Greg said and turned to find the hotel guide. Vanessa followed with Jayden and Stella trailing behind her. Zac was still looking out into the ocean, and Ashley noticed this.

"I have bad timing don't I?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah. Sometimes." Zac lightly nodded his head. "But it's okay, it's not your fault."

"So, how much did you tell her?" Ashley asked.

"Hmm, well, I stuttered a bunch of "I"s, and told her that I really needed to get it out, but that's it. You girls came out here right when I was gonna tell her."

"I'm sorry Zac." She patted his back sympathetically.

"It's fine." He shrugged.

"C'mon, let's go before they leave us." Ashley joked.

"Yeah." He sighed.

* * *

Three months later, they were back on set. Falisha never got to finish filming Zac answering her question because he had to leave that same day for a family emergency after they got home from checking out the halls. But Ashley believed that he left because he couldn't handle it anymore, and he didn't want to face Vanessa for a little bit after that moment on the balcony. Everyone else who was on Vanessa's court that wasn't already in the movie came to the set and became extra dancers and extra actors. Everyone except for Raiza who had to move suddenly because her father was in the Navy, but she said her parents would fly her out for the party. So, Vanessa asked Julia if she could be part of her court, and she accepted.

Kenny had set up a schedule that made things a little easier for them to practice for the debut. The extras had every other weekend off because their parents demanded that they do so they could go home and visit. Rehearsals and filming on the weekdays were still the same amount of normal hours as before but a little different. Every other day, filming was the usual 9am to 5pm, and they worked a little harder. And on the other days, filming started an hour early; from 8am-4pm, so that they could practice for the debut.

Zac had only hung out with Vanessa about four times since they came back to the set three months ago, other then working together on the set dancing or singing. They hadn't been doing it on purpose though, they were just busy. The past three months have been mostly learning dances, recording songs, learning lines, and rehearsing it all together. There was very little filming done because Kenny kept changing his mind about things saying it wasn't good enough to live up to the first movie.

* * *

They were in the dance room rehearsing for the debut. The pairings were: Vanessa&Kevin, Ashley&Karl, Zac&Julia, Lucas&Lyssa, Olesya&Raymund, Corbin&Tin, Falisha&Jed, Monique&Marc, Ryne&Jenalyn, Chris(the one who plays Zeke)&Jen.

"Okay guys, I think we're done for today!" Lyssa called out. She was teaching them some of the traditional Filipino dances since she was in Pasacat. (A/N: Pasacat is a Filipino dance group from San Diego that does some old traditional dances.)

"Finally!" Corbin let out a huge sigh.

"It wasn't that bad you know." Tin giggled.

"Well, that's because I was dancing with a cute girl." He winked.

"Hah, too bad I'm not partnered with a cute guy." She joked.

"What?" He looked at her.

"I was kidding, you're adorable!" She laughed. Corbin and Tin had be continuously flirting since they met.

"Hey, do you guys wanna get something to eat?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah." Was heard from all over the room.

"Alright let's go." Vanessa smiled as they started to walk out of the room.

Zac was one of the last ones there with Julia, Karl, and Ashley.

"Hey, aren't you guys coming?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah, I just need to finish putting my things back in my bag." Julia said.

"What about you man?" Karl asked.

"Uhm, I'm kinda not hungry. I think I'm just gonna go to the gym and work out." Zac said.

"Oh, cool. Mind if I join you? I'm not that hungry either." Karl asked.

"Yeah, sure." Zac said, grabbing his bag.

"Cool. Let's go." Karl said walking out of the room.

"Zac!" both Julia and Ashley stared at him.

"You haven't eaten with us in so long!" Julia said.

"I ate with you the other day for lunch." Zac protested.

"Yeah, but she means with everyone." Ashley retorted.

"Well, I'm just never hungry when you guys all go out to eat." Zac said.

"Hey, you coming?" Karl stuck his head back in the door. "Yeah." Zac said, then turned to the girls. "I'll see you guys later.. or tomorrow or whatever." Then walked towards the door.

"Heck yes, you'll be seeing us later." Ashley said. Then he was out the door.

"He's heartbroken." Julia sighed.

"Yeah. I just wish we could help." Ashley sighed as well.

"Yeah, but we can't. That'll just end up in more drama. Plus someone will end up hurt."

"That's what sucks."

"C'mon, let's go before they wonder where we are."

Zac and Karl took a different car since they were going back to the hotel, and the rest took the other two cars to go eat out.

"Hey, where's Zac and Karl?" Vanessa asked as Julia and Ashley got into the car.

"They're not hungry so they went to work out at the gym at the hotel." Julia just said.

"Yeah, Karl ate a grip at lunch." Kevin laughed.

"Yeah, but Zac hasn't eaten all day. I was practically with him most of the day." Corbin said from the back seat.

"What?" Vanessa asked concerned

"Oh, um well. He ate with me and Ash today for lunch." Julia tried to cover up. Ashley smacked Corbin.

"OOOO--!" He began to say ow but Ashley quickly whispered in his ear.

"He doesn't want to be with Ness right now."

"I mean Oh! I forgot that you guys went out to lunch." Corbin smiled sheepishly.

"I haven't hung out with Zac in a while. Or actually, talk to him much... only when we're doing our lines." Vanessa said.

"Well, you guys should talk soon." Kevin said. Ashley, Corbin, and Julia were shocked, they never thought he would say something like that.

"He's one of your best friends Ness." Kevin said. "You can't loose those in life."

"Yeah, I'll go hang out with him tonight, catch up on things." Vanessa said.

"We're here!" The driver said happily.

"Wow." Was all Corbin could say.

"You said it." Julia laughed.

* * *

**With Zac and Karl**

"So, what's up with you man?" Karl finally asked.

"What do you mean?" Zac stopped.

"Well, I just noticed that you been really distant from most people. I mean, I don't know if you were like that before or something, but you just look a little... off. Especially around Ness and my bro." Karl set down his weights as well.

"Yeah, I've just got a lot on my mind." Zac said.

"You don't like my brother huh?" He asked.

"What? No, I'm cool with your brother. He's a nice guy."

"Well, I'll go with my second guess, you like Vanessa." He said. Zac froze.

"I'll take that as a yes." Kevin said. "So, you wanna talk about it?"

"Is it that obvious that I do?" Zac asked.

"Not really. I just assumed it had to be somewhere along those lines since you'd never chill with us when them two were around."

"Oh. Yeah, well, I just don't want to interfere... and mess things up."

"That's cool, I guess." Karl said. "Well, I'm gonna go back to my room and play some Xbox360. Wanna come?"

"Yeah sure. I've got mine in my room too."

"Alright, let's go to yours since you got the suite." Karl laughed.

* * *

**With everyone else**

They all finished eating and were already back at the hotel.

"Hello?" Ashley put her phone up to her ear.

"I didn't hear it ring..." Vanessa laughed.

"It's on vibrate." Ashley mouthed, lying. "Oh... Uh-huh.. yeah. Okay, bye." She hung up her phone "C'mon Julia!"

"Where are you guys going?" Vanessa asked.

"Uh, it was Zac, he needs to talk to us about something." Ashley said.

"Okay, I'll just go with you guys then since I was gonna try and hang out." Vanessa said following them. Corbin and Karl were just looking at the three girls like they were nuts.

"NO! He said he didn't want us to bring anyone else, you know confidential stuff."

"Uhh." Vanessa stood there.

"Your birthday present! Yeah, it's about your birthday present.. so you can't come." Julia lied.

"Again?" Vanessa asked.

"Yes again, now we're gonna go, we've got soo many days left..." Ashley said, walking into the elevator with Julia. "I'll call you when we're done!" Ashley said before the doors closed.

"Uh, alright. Well, do you guys wanna go chill in mine and Lucas' suite and watch a movie or something?" Corbin asked.

"Yeah." Vanessa said.

"Sure." Karl said. Then they went up to Corbin's and Lucas' suite.

* * *

**With Zac, Julia, Karl, and Ashley**

Julia and Ashley darted towards Zac's suite. (He still has the same suite as before but doesn't share it.) Ashley took out the key to his room that she had and opened the door and found Zac and Karl playing video games.

"Uh, can we talk Zac?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah sure, don't worry, Karl can stay. He knows Ash, and I already know what you're here to talk about." Zac said, his eyes still glued to the screen.

"Well, then you should know that I'll be the one doing this." Julia said, turning of the gaming system and the TV.

"Alright Zac, spill." Ashley said.

"There's nothing new that you don't know Ash." He said.

"Well, why haven't you been hanging out with us? Or Vanessa?" Ashley asked.

"Or acting normal?" Julia added.

"I've just been busy and have my mind on other things." Zac said.

Ashley pulled out her cell and dialed a number.

"Falisha? Yeah, come over to Zac's suite, and bring your camera." Ashley said and hung up.

* * *

**Corbin's and Lucas' suite.**

"Hey, I know this is your guys' room, but do you mind if I talk to Nessa for a bit in private?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah man, you guys can go in my room and talk if you want." Lucas offered.

"I'd let you guys use mine, but his is way cleaner." Corbin laughed.

"Thanks Lucas." Kevin said, leading Vanessa into Lucas' room.

"What's wrong?" Vanessa asked.

"I just needed to talk to you." Kevin said. Vanessa took a seat on Lucas' bed, and folded her legs, Kevin came and sat next to her.

"Okay, so what about?"

"Nessa, how do you feel about me?" He asked.

"You know the answer to that Kevin." Vanessa looked him in the eyes.

"Yeah, but do you love someone else?" He asked.

"I..." She looked down. "Kevin. Why would you.."

"I know how you feel about Zac, Vanessa." He looked at her.

"I don't know what you're talking about Kev, you know I'm with you." She shook her head.

"Yeah, exactly. But you can't say that you truly love me, Nessa. Not more than a brother or a best friend. You really should be with Zac, you and I both know it, and you're just in denial."

"That's not true." Vanessa said, holding back a few tears.

"Then look me in the eyes. Vanessa Anne Hudgens, I want you to look me in the eye, and say you love me more than a brother."

"I can't." She finally said and hung her head down, letting tears fall freely. Kevin pulled her into a hug.

"It's okay Vanessa.." He rubbed her back soothingly.

"I'm... sorry." She said in between sobs.

"It's okay." He said once more.

"No, it's not. I mean we've been together for three months, and..."

"It's been a good three months Ness. But as much as it's weird for me to admit it, I think it should've been with a certain someone else. I just couldn't handle it anymore, I knew this wasn't right..."

"I'm so sorry." She whispered.

"Stop saying sorry. We're still friends." He smiled.

"Thanks Kev, you really are special to me though, and I really do love you like a brother."

"No problem, that's what friends are for, right? And I love you too Ness. Now I think you should get going and talk to Zac... you know, I think he's already waited long enough, and so have you."

"You have no idea..." She let out a little laugh.

"Wow, since when?" He asked, interested.

"Love at first sight?" She said it, sounding like a question.

"Deng." He said laughing.

"Shutup, let's go back out before the guys' let their imaginations run wild." She laughed and walked out of the room. When they walked out, they found that Olesya and Monique had joined them, and they all noticed Vanessa's puffy eyes, but both she and Kevin had smiles on.

"Go." He whispered in her ear. She turned around and smiled, then gave him a hug before leaving the room.

"Uh..." Corbin said. Then Vanessa poked her head back into the room.

"Oh, and Kevin... Thanks again, for breaking up with me." She smiled.

"Anytime Ness." He laughed.

"Okay, usually, when people break up, they're kinda depressed at least." Monique said confused.

"Yeah, there definitely isn't any in this picture." Olesya said.

"She and Zac need to be together. It's that simple." Kevin said, taking a seat on the couch.

"Wait, let me get this straight, you broke up with her so she could go to Zac?" Corbin asked.

"Yep." Kevin simply said.

"Wow, you really are a good guy." Lucas said.

"If you don't mind me asking.. why Kevin?" Monique asked.

"Well, I mean I thought it was working out at first...But I could tell that she missed being around Zac, even if they were just friends. So, I kinda just let the relationship roll until Vanessa would finally realize it, but it's been three months, so I decided to break it off." He explained.

"Oh." Monique said.

"I wonder what's going to happen now." Olesya said. "I was talking to Zac the other day and I think he's trying to let her go. Like finally let her go."

"What!" Everyone exclaimed.

"No, no, no! He can't do that!" Corbin yelled.

"Oh my gosh. Hopefully Vanessa will get there on time..." Lucas said.

* * *

**Meanwhile.. with Ashley, Zac, Karl, & Julia**

Ashley hung up her phone after calling Falisha.

"Why'd you call Falisha?" Karl asked.

"So Zac could finish his deal we made three months ago."

"Uhhh.." Both Karl and Julia said together.

"I'm here! Open up!" Falisha yelled from the outside, knocking on the door.

"Wow, that was fast." Julia laughed.

"Yeah, well, I just remembered what this was about, so I had to rush here." Falisha said.

"Alright. Here, put the camera over there on the counter so it stays still." Ashley said. "And just hit record." Falisha did what Ashley said, and made sure that the camera was on Zac at least.

"Alrighty Zac, You know the deal, same as last time." Falisha said. Zac recited the date, time, and his name.

"Good. Now, answer me TRUTHFULLY otherwise I'll get Jed over here to kick your nuts." Falisha threatened.

"Ouch." Karl said.

"She's kidding." Ashley whispered in his ear.

"Still, just the thought... Ouch." Karl said.

"Okay." Zac said.

"Do you, Zac Efron, love, and I mean TRULY LOVE, Vanessa Anne Hudgens?" Falisha asked.

Zac sat there silent for a few seconds, fumbling with his fingers.

"Yes, I do truly love Vanessa Anne Hudgens. I would've never believed in love at first sight if I never met her. But I did, and I think it was fate." He let out a small chuckle. "I would've never believed in fate either, but I do now. I love her smile, her hair, her personality, every little thing that makes Vanessa... well, Vanessa. She's perfect in every way, and more than I could ever ask for in life." He said, as if no one else was in the room. "Funny thing, when I first met her, I knew that I'd do anything to keep her from getting hurt. Seeing her happy is what makes me happy, whether it's with me or not. I'll always be there for her whether she wants me to be or not. I do truly love Vanessa." He said finally looking up into the camera then looked back down to his hands. He felt a sense of accomplishment.

Ashley, Julia, and Falisha were all in tears from his words. Karl sat there, surprised. Then Zac's door burst open by Vanessa. Vanessa didn't even care that anyone else was in the room, she ignored them. Zac looked up at the commotion and saw that her eyes were puffy as she hurried over to him.

"Nessa, what's wrong?" He quickly stood up.

"Nothing anymore." She just said as she came up to him. Then she leaned in to kiss him. It wasn't too passionate, nor was it just a peck on the lips; it was just right for the moment. A tear fell from her eyes as she broke the kiss.

"I... I'm sorry. I just really needed to do that." Vanessa said.

"No, it's fine." He said wiping the tear away from her cheek. "Look I still need to tell you what I wanted to tell you on the balcony. I know you're with Kevin and everything.."

"Zac, I..."

"No, let me finish. Vanessa, I love you. More than a best friend, more than a sister... I love you." He said.

"Zac..."

"I know that I probably just made it harder... and things will probably get more awkward.."

"Zac, let me talk!" Vanessa said forcefully.

"Sorry." he said softly.

"I love you too." She grinned.

"What?" He looked up at her again.

"I said I love you." She smiled. "I'm sorry for not telling you that earlier. And Kevin just broke up with me."

"What?" Zac said again.

"I want to be with you.. and no one else." She said shyly.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted that." Zac grinned and leaned in for another kiss.

Julia, Ashley, and Falisha basically had waterfalls down their cheeks by now. Karl had a few tears forming as well.

"Oh.. my... gosh... this has got to be the cutest, most romantic, adorable thing ever!" Ashley cried.

"It's like a friggen' movie!" Falisha sobbed.

"It's just so beautiful. The timing, everything.." Julia said. Zac and Vanessa broke their kiss, blushing brightly, finally realizing the other four were still in the room.

"Uhh, hi guys." Vanessa gave a little wave as she was in Zac's arms. Everyone was still crying.

"Karl, are you crying?" Vanessa asked, giggling a little.

"I'm a sensitive guy! Shutup Ness, you know that!" He said wiping his tears.

"Yeah." Vanessa let out a giggle.

"So, does this mean you'll be my girlfriend now?" Zac finally asked.

"Hmm, I'm not sure. You kinda waited too long." Vanessa said, letting herself go from his grasp.

"What?" Zac asked shocked.

"I'm kidding!" She laughed and kissed him on the lips. "There's my answer." She smiled.

"I'll take that as a yes." Zac grinned.

"This should so be a movie!" Ashley cried.

"C'mon guys, I think we should let them have some time." Ashley said as everyone else nodded.

"Oh, uh, they're having a movie night in Corbin's and Lucas' if you guys want." Vanessa said.

"Thanks." Ashley said on her wait out.

"No movie will ever beat what we've just witnessed." Falisha said, finally pulling herself together.

"You said it." Julia said.

"No one says anything about my sensitivity!" Karl said, and closed the door behind him.

"So, you and Kevin broke up, huh?" Zac asked.

"Actually, he broke up with me. He thought I should be with you.."

"Well, I'll have to thank him next time I see him." Zac smiled.

"So, exactly how long have you liked me?" Vanessa asked.

"Actually, I never _liked_ you. I _loved _you from the very first moment." He smiled and kissed her.

* * *

Haha, proud of me or what! LOL. Hopefully you guys are really happy with my story now, and hopefully this super lonnnng chapter will make up for all those long waits i made you guys suffer from not updating. Well, hopefully I can get another chapter up within the next day or two. I really liked this "chapter" but I still think it would've been better if i cut it off in a few areas, there were awesome potential cliff hangers all over this! HAHA. well PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! this isn't your average chapter, so i'm expecting that you guys do review this. Thanks a lot guys!


	19. Why does he call me that now?

Hey guys! Well, I'm glad to see you guys liked the last chapter. There was a biiiggg response with the reviews, soo thanks for that! I'm really glad to see that this is one of your guys' favorites on here. That really means a lot to me, and thanks to those of you who really like my style. Haha, I really am trying to make this seem as real as possible, yet movie-like. Well, here's the next chapter, I hope it doesn't confuse you guys too much. Enjoy!

* * *

"Hey! Zac! Dude, wake up!" Karl said, shaking Zac's limp body on the couch.

"Huh? What?" Zac rubbed his eyes and sat up on the couch. While sitting up his game controller fell off of his stomach.

"I fell asleep in here. Hope you don't mind." Karl said.

"Oh, nah, it's cool. There's more room in here than I need anyways." Zac yawned.

"Yeah, well, we gotta get to the set. It's an early day, and it's almost time to leave."

"Alright, alright." Zac stood up and stretched. "Hey, I thought you left last night.." Zac said, finally realizing he was talking to Karl.

"Nope." Karl said. "I guess not."

"But, I could've sworn you left you Ashley, Julia, and Falisha last night." Zac said confused.

"Uhh, no? Dude, they all went out to eat remember? You and I went to the gym, then came back here to play some games." Karl gave him a weird look, pointing to the controller that fell off his stomach.

"You're kidding me right?" Zac pleaded.

"No." Karl shook his head.

"But... Ashley and Julia they came in last night, then called Falisha, and they made me confess my love for Nessa on camera." Zac panicked. "And you guys were all crying.. then Ness came in saying that she and Kevin broke up, so we got together." He said quickly.

"Wow, some dream man. So you ready to go?" Karl asked.

"Yeah." Zac said, looking down at himself. He was still wearing basketball shorts and a wife beater. "Let me just change my wife beater really quick.

"Alright. Hey, mind if I borrow one? I'm still kinda wearing the same one from yesterday too."

"Yeah, sure thing." Zac quickly ran into his room and got two from his drawer, then tossed one over to Karl. They grabbed their bags and headed out.

"Wait, so can you tell me exactly what happened yesterday, I mean after we practiced for the debut?" Zac asked as they both stepped into the elevator.

"Alright, well, everyone else was going out to eat, but you and I weren't hungry, then Ash and Julia told everyone else for us that we were just gonna work out in the gym instead. Then you told me how you felt about Nessa, then we just came up to your room and started playing video games."

"So Ashley and Julia never came up to the room?" Zac asked.

"Well, actually, yeah they did now that I think about it. They came in and asked why you weren't spending time with _everyone _when we go out to places, then you gave them a simple answer like "I've got a lot on my mind." Then they said they had to go because they were tired." Karl explained.

"Oh." Zac said as they stepped out of the elevator.

"Dude, that must've been some dream if you really don't remember anything from last night." Karl chuckled a little.

"Dude, you have no idea. I mean it seemed so real." Zac said.

"Wanna talk about it?" Karl offered.

"Nah, maybe later. I think it'll just keep confusing me for today. But thanks anyways man." Zac said.

"No problem. I'm here if you need anything."

"Geez, you guys take forever!" Ashley exclaimed.

"Morning to you too Ash." Zac laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, everyone left already. So me, Julia, Falisha, and Jed waited for you guys since we didn't fit in the other two cars." Ashley said.

"Well then, shall we?" Karl said, leading the way to the car.

"What took you two so long anyways?" Ashley asked as she and Zac followed Karl out to the car.

"Oh, uh Karl and I fell asleep last night playing video games, and we kinda just woke up. We forgot that today was an early day." Zac explained.

"Yeah, right."

"So how'd dinner go last night?" He asked.

"It went well. So, did you and Nessa hang out last night? Or even talk?" She asked.

"What are you talking about?" Zac asked getting into the car.

"After I came to your room last night... didn't she come?" Ashley asked.

"Uh no." Zac said looking over to Karl who was on the other side of Ashley in the car.

"Nope she didn't come." Karl confirmed.

"Ash, did you even call her like you told her you would down in the lobby?" Julia asked.

"Ooops." Ashley said. "Ugh!" She brought the palm of her hand up to her forehead.

"You forgot to call her!" Falisha and Jed said from the back seat.

"Uh, what's going on?" Zac asked.

"Oh, well, on our way to dinner last night Nessa brought up the fact that you guys haven't really hung out or talked for a while, so she wanted to talk to you." Ashley explained.

"But..." Zac pushed.

"But I just really wanted to know why you didn't want to hang out with all of us when we always go out and stuff. I mean you're practically avoiding it on purpose, but back to the story... I told her down in the lobby that you wanted to talk about something first, so I said I'd call her when we were finished talking."

"Oh." Zac said.

"Sorry." Ashley muttered.

"It's alright I guess. I mean we haven't really hung out much for this long, another night wouldn't hurt I suppose." Zac shrugged. Ashley gave him a weird look.

"I guess..." Ashley said unconvinced. _Does he not care anymore?Did he actually let her go? _She thought. Ashley turned around to look at Falisha, Jed, and Julia, they all had confusion written all over their faces. So Karl just decided to change the subject.

"So what do you guys think of the hip hop dance for the debut? It's freakin' sick." Karl said.

"Yeah!" Jed said.

"I think it's gonna look hot!" Julia said.

"Yeah, I kinda still need more practice though." Ashley said.

"Ditto." Zac said.

"Double ditto, if that's even possible." Falisha laughed.

"We're here you crazy kids! Now get out!" The driver laughed.

"Bryan, you seriously are my favorite driver!" Julia laughed.

"I know, I like to joke around with you kids, it keeps my heart going." Bryan laughed as he opened the door.

"See you later Bryan!" Everyone said and waved.

"Yes, just holla at me if you guys need a ride in the mean time." He chuckled.

"Oh man, we're rubbing off on you Bry." Ashley laughed.

"Well, I gotta learn your kids' lingo and get with the flow." He said.

"You're already cool as you are." Zac laughed.

"Yes, well thank you. Now go get filming before you all are late." Bryan demanded.

"Alright. Bye Bryan." They said together once more.

"Goodbye." He said, and got back into the car to park it in the parking lot.

The group walked into the school gym to rehearse. Today they were reading the entire script to practice reading with emotion, then do a little bit of the dancing.

"Alright, now that everyone's here, let me explain what we'll be doing. As you all know we're going to read the script, practicing your ability to display emotion, characteristics, attitudes and so on with just your voice. Now I know you guys are all capable of doing this already, but I really want you guys to get into it. Any questions?" Kenny asked.

Vanessa raised her hand.

"Yes Nessa?" Kenny asked.

"Are we going through the songs as well while we read through?" She asked, lowering her hand as she spoke.

"Uhm, no not today. I think we've practiced the songs enough the past couple of days, Once we're finish reading through today, we'll be going through each of the dances once, and I want them to be perfect. Once we're finished with that, hopefully we'll be able to film a few short scenes today, then continue filming tomorrow. Sound good?" He finished talking.

"Yeah." Came from various lips in the room.

"Alright then, let's get this show on the road. Zac, you can start." Kenny sat down.

Zac started reading his lines, just as Kenny had instructed him to, as did everyone else. After they were finished, Kenny approved of their good work, and they got up and went over each of the dances. Once they were half way through the dances, they got a break.

"Hey Ash." Vanessa came and stood next to Ashley who was standing at the table of water bottles.

"Oh, hey Ness." Ashley said after taking a drink from her water bottle. "Today's pretty easy don't you think?"

"Yeah. Then after this, all we have to do is practice for my debut."

"Yeah, it's really coming together." Ashley said excitedly.

"Hey, why didn't you call me last night?" Vanessa asked. "I thought you were gonna call me after you, Zac, and Julia finished talking so I could go catch up with him."

"Oh, yeah... I'm soo sorry about that Nessa. I really am, I didn't do it intentionally, you know I wouldn't do that. It kinda just slipped." Ashley apologized.

"It's fine. I was just thinking that you didn't want me to talk to him or something." Vanessa gave a small shrug.

"What? You're kidding right? You should know of all people that I want you guys the way you were before." Ashley gave her a look.

"Yeah, so do I. But I guess we've all just been a little too busy. I mean I've practically been spending most of my time with Kev, usually the only time I hang out with everyone else is when we go out to eat or something. We barely have our girls' night anymore, or thelittle partiesin Zac's suite likeus threeused to have, and I share a suite with you!" Vanessa sighed.

"Yeah. Well, how about you, me, and the other girls have a girls night in our suite this weekend since Kev and them are obligated to visit their parents." Ashley giggled a little.

"Sounds like a plan!" Vanessa smiled again.

"Good. Then we can get the boys together and go eat breakfast together the next morning like good ol' times." Ashley added.

"Thanks Ash." Vanessa beamed.

"Hey, you're not the only one who misses it." Ashley grinned.

"Have you seen Zac? Maybe I could talk to him now while we're on our break." Vanessa asked.

"Uhh, no actually. I haven't, I just came straight to the water table since I was thirsty." Ashley answered.

"Oh. Well, thanks anyways, I'm gonna go look for him." Vanessa said.

"Alright, I'll be with the girls if you need me." Ashley said walking the opposite way.

Vanessa looked around the school gym to see if he was still inside, but he wasn't. They still had about 45 minutes left of their hour break, so she walked through school halls looking for him. Finally she walked outside and spotted him talking to Karl on the bench. She overheard their conversation as she was walking towards them and stopped for a little to listen. Neither of the two guys noticed that she was nearby.

"So then what happened?" Karl asked. They were outside talking about the "dream" Zac had.

"Well, I told her that I loved her, ever since I met her, and all that stuff." Zac took a breath.

"And what did she say? Or well how did she react?" Karl asked, interested in the story.

"She said she loved me too. I felt so happy and relieved when she said it. Then we kissed." Zac explained.

"Wow. That's crazy dude, maybe she really is the one for you then." Karl said, patting Zac on the back.

Vanessa just stood there wide-eyed, and quickly shifted her feet back towards the school entrance and ran inside, running to a classroom that was considered her "dressing room".

_What? Zac has a girlfriend? Since when! _Vanessa thought to herself as she was trying to even out her breathing pattern.

"I can't believe it. Is that why he hasn't been hanging out with us when we go out? Maybe that's the reason I haven't really seen or had the chance to talk to him much." She said out loud to no one in particular. "But why would he be able to hang out with Julia and Ashley then? Is it one of them?" Her eyes grew wide again. "Oh my gosh." She groaned.

"Hey. Knock. Knock." Julia said.

"Huh? Oh, hey Julia." Vanessa gave her a weak smile.

"Hey yourself." Julia smirked. "Is something wrong? I was down the hall and I heard you say 'Oh my gosh!'" Julia mimicked.

"Oh, it was nothing." Vanessa said waving her hand a little as if she were brushing it off mentally.

"Uh huh, sure. Spill Nessa, I think I know you well enough to know when something is bugging you." Julia said

"Well..." Vanessa was hesitant.

"Is this about you and Kevin?" Julia asked.

"No." Vanessa shook her head.

"Uh, family problems? Or girl problems?"

"No." She shook her head again.

"Okay, c'mon Ness, just help me out here, there's way too many possibilities." Julia pleaded.

"Uhh, this is kinda weird to ask..." Vanessa started.

"I won't judge you, you know that." Julia said.

"I know, it's just.."

"Just say it.

"Are you or Ash going out with Zac?" Vanessa finally asked.

"What!" Julia exclaimed. "No way! How'd you come up with that?"

"Uhh, just a silly assumption. Sorry, my mind has been running wild." Vanessa smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, a little too wild. Everyone knows that Zac is still... I mean.. uhh.. I have to pee." Julia said quickly before saying that Zac was still in love with Vanessa.

"Zac is still what?" Vanessa asked, stopping Julia.

"Uhh, single. Yeah. Everyone knows he's still single."

"Oh." Vanessa mouthed.

"Yeah, well I gotta go pee." Julia said. "See you later Ness." She said before darting out of the room.

* * *

**Meanwhile.. With Zac and Karl outside while Vanessa was still running back inside.**

"Hah, but she's with your brother." Zac let out a small laugh. That was the only thing he could do. Just try to laugh things off.

"But she loves you. Everyone knows it. Even my brother." Karl said.

"What?" Zac looked at him.

"Yeah... Weird huh. Hey did you hear that?" Karl turned around.

"No." Zac answered.

"Oh. It sounded like someone came out here or something." Karl said. Zac just shrugged.

"Hey, let's go back in, I'm kinda getting thirsty." Karl suggested.

"Uh, you go ahead. I just need some alone time to think." Zac said.

"Alright. See you back inside then man." Karl patted Zac's shoulder before he left.

"Thanks for listening." Zac called after him.

"Like I said. Anytime man!" Karl yelled back before going inside the school.

Karl walked into the school, not looking where he was going. Suddenly he bumped into someone, both of their bodies' momentum knocking them to the ground.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." Karl groaned to the unknown victim of the collision.

"No, it's fine, I wasn't looking where I was going either."

"Nessa?" He said standing up, and reaching out a hand to help her up.

"Oh, hey Karl. What's up?" She said, taking his hand for help, and stood up.

"Nothing much, just heading back inside." He answered.

"Oh, cool, so what were you doing outside?" She asked.

"Just talking to Zac, and getting some fresh air."

"I see, yeah, I kinda walked out there and overheard you guys a little, so I came back in." She looked down.

"Really?"

"Yeah, but I wasn't doing it on purpose, you know? I was just walking towards you guys chill, but then I realized you guys were in a deep conversation, so I just left." She explained.

"Uh Ness, what exactly did you hear?" He asked.

"Does Zac have a girlfriend?" Vanessa asked quietly, looking at the ground, and playing with her fingers behind her back.

"What? You're kidding right?"

"Well, no, I heard him say that he told her that he loved her and she loved him back. Then that's all I heard." She confessed still looking down.

"Why are you asking?" Karl looked at her suspiciously.

"No reason..." She looked back up and shrugged.

"Lies." Karl simply gave her a look.

"Well, is that the reason he hasn't been hanging out with me? Or anyone else? Because he has a girlfriend? But then the weird part is that he's always talking or hanging out with you, Julia, and Ashley. I can't quite figure it all out. But it seems reasonable I guess."

"Why would it be reasonable for him to ignore you? You two are like best friends." Karl said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Hah, your brother said the same thing in the car yesterday." Vanessa let out a little laugh.

"Well, we are twins. You know, twin telepathy." He joked.

"More like tele-pathetic. But anyways, we haven't really been much of best friends the past few months." Vanessa sighed.

"Whatever, but just so you know, he doesn't." Karl assured her.

"I don't get it.." Vanessa looked confused.

"He doesn't have a girlfriend. He and I were just talking about something else that's been bugging him."

"Oh... But why would something like saying I love you bug him like that?" Vanessa thought outloud.

"Because Zac's had a lot on his mind... He's just been trying to sort things out, instead of hanging out."

"But what I don't get is why he only talks or hangs out with some people,particularly you, Julia, and Ash." Vanessa said.

"Well, that, I have no idea. I think it's just because we're always around." He shrugged.

"I guess." Vanessa softly nodded.

"Well, I'm gonna go in and get some water. How about you?" Karl asked.

"Uhm, I think I'm gonna go talk to Zac." Vanessa nudged her head towards the front entrance of the school.

"Alright, I'll see you later then." He waved then walked off.

Vanessa let out a sigh of relief without even knowing it before she walked out the front doors once more. Once she passed through the doors, she looked around for Zac. She spotted him on the bench, and made her way over to him. As she was nearing he suddenly started to get up.

"Hey." She said nervously, trying to catch his attention before he left. This was the first time they had really spoken in a while.

"Oh, hey Vanessa." He let a small smile creep onto his face.

"I didn't interrupt anything did I? It looked like you were going somewhere..." She asked hopefully.

"Huh? Oh, uhm yeah, I was just gonna take a lap around the school since we still have a while left... you know keep in shape, take the stress off my shoulders..." He explained.

"Hm, it's a pretty big school Zac." She gave him smirk.

"Yeah, I'd say it's about a one and a half to a two mile jog." He said, beginning to stretch. "But it's good for you I guess." He shrugged his shoulders a little.

"Well then, mind if I join you on your jogging journey? I wouldn't want you to go two miles lonely." She giggled.

"Sure, if you really want." He agreed, but no emotions were carried in his voice.

"You know, we haven't really hung out in so long. I miss it." She said.

"Yeah, I miss it too, but we've all been really busy I guess." He said looking up to meet her brown eyes.

"I guess." She said. "But I mean, it's just weird, we do always see each other around a lot, running over our lines, rehearsing, and all that, but we never really hang like we used too."

"I know..." He said finishing up his stretches.

"So, how come you haven't been going out with all of us? Like when we all went to dinner yesterday?" She cocked her head to the side a little, standing up straight as she finished stretching as well.

"Oh, I just wasn't hungry. You know, didn't want to go and just waste food." Zac said convincingly.

"Corbin, Chris, Ryne, and the other guys would've ate it." She joked.

"Hah, yeah. But I think they put enough on their plate already." He laughed.

"So, you and Karl are becoming good friends..." She implied.

"Yeah, he's a really good friend. I can see why you made friends with him back in your day." Zac nodded. "Ready?" He asked. Vanessa responded by nodding her head, and then they started their jog around the school.

"So... How have you been? You know, with Kevin and everything?" Zac asked after a few minutes into their jog.

"It's been great. It's almost been 3 months." She slightly blushed, but Zac didn't notice; her face was already a shade a red from running.

"Well, that's good." Zac focused on what was ahead of them.

"Yeah. So, what's new with you these days? I mean there has to be something new since we've only hung out like three times since we got here." Vanessa asked.

"Hah, well, actually, nothing really. Nothing worth hearing right now anyways." Zac answered.

"Oh, c'mon. Everything from you is worth hearing, especially since we haven't had one of our deep talks."

"No really Vanessa, I just don't think it's the right time to talk about it." He said with a little force.

"Alright, sorry." She practically whispered. Suddenly his phone was ringing, as he had it clutched in his hand.

"Hello?" he answered as he slowed down to a clam walk. Vanessa slowed down as well.

_What was that about? Why'd he talk to me like that? He never does... or at least he never did before. _Vanessa thought to herself, folding her arms to hug herself as they walked and stared hard at the ground.

"Hey, uh, I gotta head back and get into wardrobe and make-up. Ash just called me and said that Kenny told her to tell me we're gonna start filming some of my solo scenes.." Zac said, pulling her out of her deep thought.

"Oh. Uhm, alright." She nodded. They were by the football field of the school, which was by the parking lot, which meant that they could easily walk back into the school through another entrance. "I think I'm just gonna head to my trailer or something."

"Alright. Bye Vanessa." Zac said before walking off towards the building, but Vanessa just started to walk around the parked trailers. She eventually came to a stop when she found a big tree, and sat under the shade it provided on the grass, then laid onto her back.

"Why doesn't he call me Ness or Nessa anymore." She thought aloud. "But he calls Ash, Ash still." She said bringing her hand up to her forehead.

"It's like we just met. Wait, not even. We were way better friends than this when we first met... It's like we don't even know each other anymore." She let out a sigh of frustration. "What happened to your friendship with Zac, Vanessa?" She questioned herself. "What's _gonna_ happen?" She asked, before letting out another sigh.

* * *

Well, there it is! Haha. I know some of you guys are gonna be mad, but just chill. This story is wayyy far from being done! I couldn't leave them together, it just didn't feel right for my story just yet. Annnd for those of you who've read my other story, I like to put my twists in. Haha, but no worries, I did decide to make it a dream for a reason... If I left them together, then it felt like it was the end of the story to me, which is what I didn't want, so I made it a dream. Plus, we all know that, that would be a rare moment in reality for it to actually happen. Well, **REVIEW PLEASE! **Haha, I really wanna see how you guys felt about this chapter. I'll try and update within the next two days... I think I might stay up late and write most of the next chapter. Byeee..


	20. Chocolate

Wow... Haha, I forgot who it was who printed it out, but WOW... I didn't knowCh.18 was 24 pages, or however many it came out to be. Haha, I type this all in OpenOffice since I don't have any other programs anymore, but yeah, I type with size 9 font because it helps me write more. LOL. Anyways, haha, sorry about making it a dream, but it seemed right to do. It didn't feel like something that would happen in real life, soo that's why I made it a dream. Well, in Zac's case... somewhat of a nightmare, but yeah.

I didn't intend on making Zac seem that cold to her. When I said "force" I meant it like... you know when someone is annoying you? and you kinda just wanthe/she to quit and you kinda get mad at them and tell them to stop, but you're trying to be nice? Yeah, I meant it like that... if that makes any sense. HAHA. Well, enough of my babbling, ENJOY!

* * *

Vanessa laid there, thinking to herself as she stared up into the clouds. She didn't know if she had done anything to make Zac act like that around her, she didn't know if it had anything to do with her at all. All she knew was that she wanted Zac back. The old Zac. The one who would always be there with a smile. The one who would pick her up and give her piggy-back rides if she was too tired to walk. The same old Zac who would carry her to her bed if she fell asleep, or put a blanket over her to keep warm. The same Zac she could talk to about anything and everything.

* * *

**Rewind back to when Karl and Vanessa parted each other in the hallway.**

"Hey ladies." Karl smiled as he came up to the group after getting his water. Then he turned to the guys"Hey guys, what's up?" He asked.

"Hey Karl." Everyone greeted.

"Where have you been bro? You just disappeared after that last dance." Kevin said.

"Oh, I was outside talking with Zac." He said taking a seat on the ground with everyone else. "It was getting really stuffy in here, so we went outside and just chilled."

"Hey guys, wave hi to the camera!" Falisha said to everyone, moving her camera around to catch everyone's smiles and waves.

"Uh, Sha? What are you doing?" Jed asked.

"Documenting." She laughed. "I don't know, just so I'm not bored, plus, too many memories happen for me to remember, soo I'm recording every chance I get." She explained.

"Ohh! I want a copy!" Ashley exclaimed, turning the camera to face her. "Falisha! I love you!" Ashley said to the camera, then laughed.

"And I love Ashley!" Falisha said, turning the camera to face her, then gave a thumbs up before turning the camera back to face everyone else.

"Hey, have you guys seen Nessa?" Kevin asked.

"Oh, yeah, she's outside I think." Karl said.

"Cool. I need to talk to her." Kevin said getting up.

"See ya!" Everyone said as he left.

"I'm so glad we get a break." Jenalyn said.

"Yeah, I didn't know Kenny would work us this hard." Tin let out a small laugh.

"Hah, I'm guessing Nessa didn't warn you guys." Corbin laughed.

"Oh, no, she did. But we thought she was kidding." Lyssa laughed.

"Hey, while Nessa's here, what are you guys getting her for her birthday?" Olesya laughed.

"Oh my god. It's so funny how many times we've used that excuse to get Ness out of the room." Monique laughed.

"Yeah! I just used it yesterday too!" Ashley laughed. "It's really funny how we've never even talked about it."

"Yeah, so what are you guys getting her? Because I really have no idea what to get her." Olesya laughed.

"I don't know." Flowed through everyone sitting there.

"Hey guys!" Julia said, joining the group.

"Hey Joojoo. Where have you been?" Ashley asked.

"How many nicknames do you give me in a day?" Julia laughed. "Oh, I ran into Nessa, then went to the bathroom."

"I like to experiment, plus I think I like Joojoo, it's cute." Ashley laughed.

"Whatever, so what are you guys talking about?" Julia asked.

"About what to get Ness for her birthday." Falisha answered. "By the way, wave to the camera!" She said excitedly.

"Hi camera!" Julia laughed. Everyone laughed at her response.

"Hm, so, anyone got any ideas?" Tin asked.

"Nope." Lucas said.

"Nada." Corbin answered, followed by a few nods from everyone else.

"I think I have an idea, but I still think we should get something else to add to it. Like little gifts from each of us." Ryne finally said.

"So you mean like, a big present from all of us, then small ones from everyone else?" Olesya asked.

"Yeah! Exactly. See, I think we're all thinking that since it's a big fancy party, that we can't or shouldn't just give her an average gift..." Ryne explained.

"Well, it is kind of a special thing. Not to mention a special celebration in her family's culture!" Chris laughed.

"Okay, whatever, let Ryne get back to his idea." Lyssa said.

"Okay. Well, like I was saying, I think that for the big present, we should make a video." He simply said. "I mean, it's simple and easy." Ryne shrugged.

"It's memorable." Corbin nodded.

"It's sweet and thoughtful." Lyssa said.

"It's from the heart." Tin smiled.

"We have a camera." Falisha added.

"And we have film editors here too." Chris reminded them.

"We can each have personal messages.." Olesya smiled.

"We have mostly everyone she was close to when she was younger here already, and we can just you guys to record those who aren't here when you visit home.." Monique said.

"And we can get her family members to take part too. I can go back home and do that since I don't have many parts" Jed said excitedly

"We've got three months." Raymund said.

"We can play it during the debut." Karl grinned.

"That's freakin genius Ryne!" Ashley exclaimed. "It's perfect!"

"Thanks!" Ryne grinned, feeling proud of his idea. "Hey, I've got another idea, for the smaller gifts too!" Ryne said.

"Well, let's hear it!" Julia said.

"Later. Maybe when we've got everyone here. But I think it's perfect too." Ryne said.

"Okay." Everyone nodded.

"Wow, how do you come up with these ideas?" Corbin asked him. "And so fast too."

"I like girls." Ryne laughed.

"Dude, he seriously does." Chris laughed.

"Deng, well, I guess you know how to treat the ladies right when you give them gifts." Monique laughed.

"Yeah, I try and make them have sentimental value." He winked.

"Whatever." Ashley rolled her eyes.

"Hey, Ash, can I talk to you?" Kenny called from the other side of thegym.

"Sure think Kenny!" Ashley yelled back. "I'll be back guys." She said, got up, and skipped over to Kenny. He told her to tell Zac that they were just going to start filming his solo scenes instead of running over the next couple of dances.

"Why are you telling me?" She asked, curious.

"One. I know you always have your phone." Kenny laughed. "Two. You always know how to spread the word." Kenny smiled.

"Oh." Ashley said then laughed. "Well, I'm on it!" Ashley said.

"Alright, be prepared, we might work on your's, and everyone else's solo scenes today too!" Kenny said as she was turning to leave.

"Okie dokes Kenny." She said, then made her way back to the group.

"Good news guys, we done with the rehearsing the dances and stuff for today." Ashley said, taking out her cell phone.

"Yes!" everyone said together.

"Hello? Yeah, Zac... Kenny said that you need to get into make-up and wardrobe. You're gonna start filming your solo scenes right now...Yep.. Alright bye!" Ashley hung up.

"So we're done for the day?" Lucas asked her.

"Well, kinda. Kenny said that we should be prepared, some of us might be filming some of our solo scenes if they finish Zac's early." She responded.

"Oh, alright." Lucas nodded. "I don't think I have that many solo scenes anyways. I'm usually with you guys." Lucas laughed.

"Ugh, so that means we have to be in some..." The guys said.

"Well, that's what extras do." Julia laughed.

"Hey guys!" Kevin said, walking back into the gym, and joined the group.

"Hey, I thought you went to go talk to Nessa." Jenalyn said.

"Yeah, I was, but she wasn't outside, I couldn't find her." He said.

"Oh, I saw her in her dressing room a while ago." Julia said.

"I checked, she wasn't there." Kevin said.

"Maybe she went to her trailer to sleep. She looked tired." Ashley said.

"Yeah, oh well, I'll let her sleep then." Kevin laughed.

"Anyone and everyone who's on the basketball team, you need to get into wardrobe and make-up. You're filming!" An assistant director announced into a speaker.

"Ugh, that's basically all of us!" Corbin whined.

"Man, I thought we got a break too." Karl said getting up. The girls just laughed.

"Good luck guys." all the girls said together.

"I'm guessing they're doing that one scene where Troy talks to the basketball team." Monique said.

"Yeah." They all nodded.

"Hey Ash, I need to talk to you." Julia said, pulling her up. "C'mon."

"Alright. See you later girls!" Ashley said, as they left.

"What's up?" Ashley asked as they walked into a hallway, and continued to walk.

"You know how I said I was talking to Ness in her dressing room?" Julia asked.

"Uh, yeah.." Ashley said, unsure where Julia was going with it.

"Well, she looked kinda off. So I asked her what was up, and she asked me if you or I were going out with Zac." Julia said.

"What!" Ashley exclaimed. "How'd she come up with that!"

"I don't know." Julia said. "I thought you would know."

"Oh my gosh. What did you tell her?" Ashley asked.

"I told her no of course! I seriously don't know where she came up with that." Julia said.

"Hey, what's going on?" Karl asked, walking out of a classroom, in his jersey.

"Oh, hey Karl, done already?" Ashley asked.

"Uh, yeah, they said I barely needed make-up on today since I'm not that major, and wardrobe was pretty easy... What are you two yelling about?" He asked.

"Oh uh.." Julia trailed off.

"I heard you guys say something about you two going out with someone.." He said.

"You did?" Ashley asked, still hoping that he didn't.

"Yeah. But don't worry, the others are in dressing rooms and stuff on the other end of the hall, I just ended up here because they needed to fix my jersey a bit." He assured them.

"Oh." Ashley and Julia mouthed.

"Don't worry, I know you guys are talking about Nessa, and how she thinks one of you guys are going out with Zac. And I know how he feels about Nessa too... So you two might as well just spill right now." Karl looked at them.

"You do?" Ashley and Julia said in unison.

"Yeah, I've been talking to Zac, and he told me about it. Plus I walked into Nessa today." He explained.

"Well, what did she ask you?" Julia asked.

"She asked if I knew if Zac had a girlfriend, or if it was one of you two, and I told her no." He said.

"Why would she ask if it was one of us though?" Julia asked.

"She just assumed since it's always one of us three that's with him, and seeing that you two are the girls, she just guessed." He shurgged.

"Oh, my gosh, I so have to find Vanessa." Ashley said.

"Yeah, well, I'm gonna head back to the gym." Julia said.

"And I've got to head back there too." Karl said.

"Alright, I'll see you guys later then." Ashley said, then made her way towards the trailers outside.

Ashley walked over to Vanessa's trailer and knocked on the door. After waiting a couple of seconds, she decided that she wasn't there since Vanessa would usually answer right away. Ashley knew that she wasn't in anyone else's trailers because everyone else was inside the school, so she walked around hoping to find her. Then she spotted a brunette laying under the shade, occasionally pounding her fists onto the grass, then covering her face again.

"Why is Ash still Ash, but I'm Vanessa?" Vanessa said to herself, not hearing Ashley come near her.

"Uh, that's because I am me, and you are you." Ashley laughed.

"Huh? Oh, hey Ash." Vanessa lifted her head then let it fall right back to it's place on the grass. Ashley crossed her legs and sat next to her best friends' resting body.

"Something wrong? I saw you kinda beating up the grass on the way over here." Ashley giggled.

"Eh, just way too much on my mind." Vanessa said frustrated.

Ashley just nodded. She knew that tone of Vanessa's and knew not to push the subject. Instead, let it flow into the conversation by itself.

"So, why were you talking to yourself about who your are or whatever?" Ashley asked.

"Oh, I wasn't." Vanessa laughed. "Or well, I was talking to myself. But I was referring to the nicknames." Vanessa said.

"Oh. I see. Well, I was talking to Julia, then Karl... they said you thought me or Julia were going out with Zac?" She asked, with a tone as if it were an impossible combination.

"Uh, yeah." Vanessa blushed, obviously embarrassed.

"It's okay, Ness. Just why would you think that?" Ashley asked.

"I don't know," Vanessa sate up. "I was just thinking that he always hangs out with you, Julia, and Karl now. But when it comes down to the gang, or me and him, it just never happens." Vanessa explained. Ashley nodded, signaling that she was following Vanessa's story.

"Well, I just thought maybe he was ignoring hanging out with us because he had a girlfriend, and that maybe that was the reason he didn't want to hang out with me or something." Vanessa sighed.

"You know Zac wouldn't do that to you, Ness." Ashley said sympathetically. "And well, me and Julia aren't dating him, trust me. Plus I've been talking to Tuxedo Chris." Ashley winked. Tuxedo Chris was what they called Christian from the tuxedo shop. He and Ashley had been talking on the phone a lot recently.

"Wow, really?" Vanessa asked.

"Yeah." Ashley nodded excitedly, "But we'll talk about that later." Ashley said. "You obviously have a bigger problem. So spill."

"Well, Zac and I just went for a jog around the school." Vanessa started.

"Are you serious? This school is huge!" Ashley exclaimed. "Sorry, continue."

"Well, anyways, we were jogging, and I was just trying to catch up on things happening with him, then he totally just yelled at me for asking what was new in his life." Vanessa said, her eyes beginning to water. "I mean, the whole time he was actually calling me Vanessa, instead of Nessa or Ness. Not even Hudgens, like we always joke around. So I was wondering if it was just me or something, then you called him and he called you Ash... so I've just been here wondering what I did wrong." She said, a tear falling.

"Oh, come here Ness." Ashley said, pulling her friend into a hug. "you didn't do anything. Trust me. Zac's just... He's just trying to sort things out."

"But why does he act different around me?" Vanessa asked, still frustrated.

"Maybe it was just bad timing." Ashley said.

"I guess." Vanessa said, wiping the tears from her face.

"C'mon, let's go to your trailer. Then you can eat some of your chocolate stash I know you have hiding in there." Ashley laughed.

"You know me too well." Vanessa said, getting up with her. The two walked over to Vanessa's trailer, and went in. Vanessa pulled out her chocolate, and started to eat some.

"Chocolate... the lifesaver to a girl's life." Ashley said, popping a piece of chocolate into her mouth, then started giggling, along with Vanessa.

"So, why would you think Zac had a girlfriend instead of something else? Would you have been jealous or something?" Ashley asked as she raised an eyebrow, narrowing her eyes at Vanessa.

"Huh? No!" Vanessa said quickly. "I've got a boyfriend, remember Ash? Anyways, I guess it was the first thing that popped into mind, and I was thinking too much too fast." Vanessa said.

"Right, but if he did have a girlfriend, would you be jealous... knowing the fact that you had feelings for him before?" Ashley asked.

"Ash, don't even go into that right now. I never did alright. So, no, I wouldn't." Vanessa said.

"Alright, whatever you say." Ashley said.

"Ugh, I shouldn't even be making a big deal out of this. I don't even know his side yet." Vanessa groanded.

"See, that's the Nessa I know." Ashley cheered her on.

"Normally, I'd find out both sides, so I should. I'll try talking to him again later." Vanessa planned.

"You wanna head into school with the other girls? I'm eating all your freakin chocolate, and I don't even know why." Ashley laughed.

"Geez, Ash." Vanessa exclaimed looking at her box of chocolate HUGS and Kisses. It was still full, but she just said it for fun. "I'm kidding, I don't mind. I've got more stashed in my room. C'mon let's go." Vanessa laughed.

"I guess, Ms. Hardcore-Chocolate-Lover-I-Have-Chocolate-Stashed-In-Every-Room-I-Stay-In." Ashley laughed, walking out of the trailer with her best friend.

"You know it." Vanessa laughed. "I even have some in my dressing room. But they all have different chocolate." She laughed again.

"Wow, I should do that." Ashley laughed.

The girls walked into the gym and joined the girls on the bleachers, and watched the crew set up the gym for filming.

"Hello ladies." Kenny smiled as he walked up to them.

"Hey Kenny!" They girls all returned a smile.

"Alright, sorry to bust your bubbly girl talk, but I need you ladies off set." Kenny laughed.

"Aww, c'mon Kenny, can't we stay?" Monique asked.

"Yeah, we can blend in with the other extras. Plus none of us are in make-up." Ashley said.

"Fine, I guess you guys can stay... just spread don't stand out too much. This is the scene where Troy is talking to the team after a practice, so, just make it look like you're the cheerleaders after practice and watching the team up in the bleachers. But stay high got it? I don't want your faces to show and confuse the audience. Just keep talking, but keep it to a minimum volume." Kenny caved.

"Thanks Kenny!" The girls all chimed together, before standing up to move a little higher on the bleachers. They continued talking about everything and anything.

"Alright people, let's get going!" Kenny clapped his hands together. The boys all filed in, ready in their wardrobe and makeup. As they were walking in, they were sprayed with mist to dampen their hair, and make their skin slightly glisten as if they were sweating from the workout they were "just finishing" in the story.

"Alright Zac, let's make it happen." Kenny said. "And, action!" Kenny boomed. Zac said a few of his lines, then let the others go on with theirs.

"Cut!" Kenny called. "Zac, I need you to put more into it. I've seen you do it before, now don't hold back." Zac nodded understanding Kenny. "From the top. And, action!" Zac tried to improve his performance, and they ran through the scene again.

"Cut. Okay, that was a little better, but not exactly what I'm looking for. Kevin, you need more emotion too. Zac, you need to make it seem more real. Right now, it just sounds like you're reading it line for line. If I wanted that, I could've hired anyone for this part, but I know you have the right stuff, now let's see it! C'mon, Gabriella is going out with someone else, and you're holding back your true feelings. The guys are trying to tell you you've been acting different. I want you to be angry, sad, depressed, just like you sounded when we did a table read. Got it?" Kenny asked.

"Yeah, got it Kenny." Zac nodded. _This should be easy, I can relate to Troy exactly. _Zac thought.

"Wonderful. Now let's get this done, we've gotta get going on the filming from now on people. I want at least one scene a day." Kenny said. "Ready? And, Action."

The girls were up on the bleachers. Some of the cheerleaders joined them to make it look like the cheer squad on the bleachers instead of just them sitting there. They were all talking nonstop, all except for Vanessa. She had a text book in her lap, and a pencil in her hand to make it look like she was a cheerleader trying to catch up on homework, but really she was focusing on Zac.

_This is the first time he's had to do a scene this many times before. He usually can get in down like that, and Kenny would just make him do it again a few more times just in case. Something is definitely up. _Vanessa thought, tapping the pencil onto the open text book, and bit her lip.

"Alright, perfect!" Kenny called out, after doing the same scene for the eleventh time. "I guess that's a wrap for today you guys." Kenny said, looking at the time. "See you all tomorrow."

"Finally." Corbin exclaimed.

"Seriously. Dude, I don't think we've ever had to do a scene that many times before because of Zac. It's usually one of us." Chris said, referring to himself, Corbin, and Ryne.

"Ha-ha, funny guys." Zac said sarcastically, then they all went to go change out of their wardrobe. The girls all got up, and headed down the bleachers and out to the dance room to practice for the debut.

* * *

Okay.. There it is. I wrote this when I was kinda sleepy but yeahh. uhh, in the next chapter, for those of you who are wondering, they'll be planning the "smaller" gifts. Haha, annd it'll be about the practice. and other stuff. just a little heads up for you guys since you've all been really cool and reviewing! Well, I'm gonna go start the next chapter... Hopefully, I'll have it up tomorrow. We'll see. **Review Please!x3**


	21. Things just got a little worse

Hey guys! sorry for the long wait.. I kept re-writing this chapter because it didn't feel right. But I think I'm finally satisfied. Anyways, I kinda got bored and copied&pasted my story all together, without my little messages that I leave before and after each chapter, into OpenOffice, and my story was 125 pages (up to the chapter before this)with just normal Times New Roman size 12 font! Wow, I didn't realize it was that long, but hey, I gotta thank you guys, because I basically write for you guys. LOL. I didn't think I would actually ever write that much. LOL. This is seriously like a book already. Anywhoo, I just found that as a big acomplishment, and thanks to those of you who review because you guys keep me writing. LOL.Sooo, enjoy the chapter! I made this a little long, you know, since I haven't updated in a few days.

* * *

"Alright, from the top!" Chucky said loudly. "5. 6. 5-6-7-8!" He boomed as they began the hip hop routine for Vanessa's debut. They ran through it pretty smoothly, all except for Zac and Vanessa. What the other didn't know was that they had their minds on each other. Vanessa really wanted to talk to Zac and settle things, but Zac just wanted to get done with practice so he wouldn't have to face Vanessa. Chucky felt satisfied though for that dance, he sensed something was up, so he decided to let it pass since he knew that the two knew the routine down to the last move. They ran through it perfectly the last few days, so today just made it look like they were tired, so they moved onto the waltz. After the waltz was a Cha-cha dance mixed with a little Samba and a pinch of hip hop to make it seem unique. After that, they ran through the traditional Filipino dances, and finally ended their practice. 

They were doing pretty well for only practicing for three months. They had a total of five dances, all choreographed, and they knew them all by heart already. The only thing they had left to do, was practice until the big day. They're practice ended two hours later, and they were beginning to gather their things to leave. Zac of course was one of the first ones out the door. Vanessa saw this, and quickly stuffed her things into her bag, instead of neatly placing them in as she usually does, and walked out the door to see if she could catch up.

"What's up with those two?" Corbin asked. Some of them replied with shrugs, others with the cliché "I don't know."

"They're trying to figure some stuff out." Ashley said, standing next to Corbin.

"More like Nessa is trying to figure things out." Karl laughed as he stood next to Ashley.

"Yeah, and Zac's running." Julia said from the middle of the room.

"I gotta talk to Nessa." Kevin said walking out of the room.

"This is definitely going to be interesting." Falisha said, turning on her camera.

"Uh, no duh." Lyssa laughed.

"Seriously. I mean, Vanessa chasing the love of her life who she isn't with, while the love of her life is running away from her, while her boyfriend is chasing after her to talk to... definitely interesting" Tin laughed.

"So, I guess everyone sees it then." Ryne said, swinging his duffel over his shoulder, walking up to the circle of people they were starting to form.

"Well, we aren't blind." Raymund laughed.

"Seriously. Plus, Vanessa's always been like that. Never admitting it." Marc said. "I remember when I was on the phone with her, I could hear her laughing with Zac... She hasn't laughed like that in a while though." Marc sighed.

"What?" everyone said together.

"When was this?" Ashley exclaimed.

"I don't know. It was a while ago, when you were auditioning people for a new role I think." Marc shrugged as they made their way out of the dance room.

"Oh! I think that was me." Julia laughed.

"Yeah. You we're the only new role added." Chris nodded.

"Yeah, anyways, I think you guys were on a break, then I guess she and Zac were alone laughing.. really hard, she just sounded like it was, uhh, pure bliss."

"Hey, I remember that!" Ashley yelled, her face lit up. "I took pictures of them without noticing." Ashley laughed.

"Are you serious?" Falisha laughed.

"Yeah. It did look like pure bliss, and now that I think about it, Vanessa hasn't laughed like that in so long." Ashley's smile faded into a frown.

"Well, I guess all we can do it let this roll on it's own until they figure all this out on their own." Olesya said.

"Yeah." Everyone else agreed.

"Ash, you and I are sooo combining our pictures." Falisha said.

"Oh! Hey, I've got some too!" Olesya said. Everyone looked at her. She was the last one they would expect to do that. She was always the one who said not to ruin nature's course for someone's love life, unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Are you serious?" Ashley exclaimed. "What happened to 'let's see what happens on their own'?" Ashley asked.

"I had to! I just walked into the room once, and I just happened to have my camera... It just looked cute." Olesya said shyly.

"Yeah, I've got some too!" Monique laughed, and everyone looked from Olesya to her. "What? Every since you showed us those pictures you took, I've carried my camera with me everywhere." Monique looked at Ashley.

"I've got a few too." Corbin said.

"You're just saying that because you feel left out." Falisha laughed.

"No, I'm serious." Corbin looked them straight in the eye, making them believe him.

"My god, who else has pictures of Nessa and Zac all happy together?" Ashley asked. Everyone raised their hands except for everyone from San Diego since they never saw Zac and Vanessa together before Vanessa started going out with Kevin.

"Yep. I guess it seems that way." Olesya laughed.

"Hey, but I never knew any of you guys had any!" Corbin held his hands in the air in a surrendering position. "So I didn't say anything because I thought you guys would get mad and say something like 'Geez Corbin, you're violating their personal space.'" Corbin mimicked a girl's voice.

"Yeah." The guys nodded.

"Hello! It's Ash we're talking about. Since day one that we met her, we knew she liked to do this kind of stuff." Raymund laughed.

"He's got a point. Ash is a snooper." Chris said.

"Well, how come you guys didn't say anything? I showed you the ones I took." Ashley asked, turning to Falisha, Olesya, and Monique.

"I don't know." They all shrugged.

"Whatever. Well, let's change the subject before they hear us." Ashley said as they came closer to the cars.

* * *

**With Zac and Vanessa**

Vanessa quickly walked out of the dance room to catch up. Zac was turning the corner far down the hall from where she was, so she ran a little to catch up. She finally got closer and called out to him.

"Zac! Wait up!" She yelled, causing him to turn around at the sound of his name. He saw who had called him and sighed.

"Too late to turn around and keep walking." He mumbled and closed his eyes, preparing himself for what was going to happen.

"Uh... hi." She said nervously.

"Hey." He said.

"You're fast." She said randomly. She felt a sense of awkwardness between them.

"Huh?" He looked at her.

"I meant you, you were walking fast." She laughed softly.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I'm tired... I just uh, wanted to get to the car already." He said.

"Oh. Uhhh..." She trailed off.

"Did you want to ask me something, Vanessa?" He asked.

There it was again. He called her Vanessa, instead of her usual nicknames. _What the heck! I guess it wasn't bad timing like Ash said..._ Vanessa thought to herself, both angry and sad at the same time.

"What did I do?" She yelled. She couldn't control it anymore.

"What?" He said softly. He was shocked at how Vanessa yelled, but confused with what she was talking about.

"Why do you call me that now? What did I do, Zac? Why are you different now? How come Ash is still Ash, but I'm Vanessa now, and not Van, or.. Nessa, or.. Ness, or whatever? Why? Just please. Tell me Zac!" She began crying. "I can't take it anymore." She sobbed.

_Look what I did. _Zac thought. _I made her cry... I thought I'd never hurt her. _His eyes began to water. _Look what I did._

"I... Vanessa... I mean Nessa. Look, I.." He began, unsure what to call her. The two didn't see it, but the gang finally stepped outside. They saw Vanessa yelling, and decided that they shouldn't go any closer, but stood next to Kevin. Kevin had the same reaction and heard every word since came out a little earlier since he was chasing after Vanessa. They couldn't help but hear since there was no other way around them, and the school doors locked automatically since they were done for the day.

"You know what? Forget it. Now that I've told you, you're probably just going to start calling me Nessa or whatever since I just told you. Just forget it. Vanessa is fine. But if you really wanted to ignore me so much, you could've just told me straight forward. I'm sorry if I haven't been that great of a best friend, but now you can see that you haven't either. I thought it was just because we were busy, but I can see that there was something else." She said through her tears.

"Nessa, let me explain." He said softly, touching her arm.

"I just want to know what I did. What did I do to make you call me Vanessa? You only call me that when you're totally serious or something is wrong. And you never seem to spend time with the gang anymore, but you'll always hang out with Ash, Julia, and Karl. I'm starting to become jealous of them because they spend more time with my best friend than I do these days."

"You didn't do anything. I'm sorry." He simply said. Vanessa looked deep into his piercing blue eyes and knew that he was having trouble with what to say, and now so was she. She could see that there was more to his explanation.

"I need to go." She said, and walked past him. "I want the old Zac back...Goodbye, Zac." She said softly to herself, but he heard her anyways. Zac stood there in shock of what had just happened, and walked over to a nearby bench. As he sat down, he saw Vanessa climb into the van, leaving the door open for everyone else to get in.

"Wow." Cobin said, after they witnessed all of that.

"No shit, wow." Falisha said.

"I think things just got a little worse." Julia whispered.

"Yeah." Karl and Ashley nodded.

"Uh, I definitely need to talk to Nessa right now." Kevin said and jogged over to the car that Vanessa was waiting in.

"What's up with your brother?" Monique questioned.

"I'm not sure." Karl shook his head.

"He's been wanting to talk to Ness the whole day, I guess he never got his chance." Tin said.

"I hate couples." Lyssa laughed, along with Tin, Jen, and Jenalyn. Raymund, Karl, and Marc just rolled their eyes.

"I don't get it." Olesya said, seeing the guys reactions and the girls just laughing. "Aren't those two like two of your best friends."

"Well, I hate couples. And of course they are, but then again I hate couples.." Lyssa tried explaining.

"Uhhh." Everyone else said together.

"Lyssa, you suck at explaining things." Marc broke out into laughter with Raymund, and Karl.

"Here. I'll break it down." Jen said. "Okay, Lyssa hates couples. When she says that, or well, when any of us say that, we really mean: I hate seeing couples when we are single because it just reminds us that we have no one to fall back on."

"Except for friends of course." Jenalyn added.

"Yeah." Jen nodded. "See, when Lyssa said that after seeing Kev and Ness, she said it because she hates seeing him missing her all day, and all that cute mushy stuff." Jen finished.

"Oh!" Olesya said. "Well, I hate couples too!" Olesya giggled.

"Right on!" Lyssa said, giving her a high five while they laughed together.

"Wait, wait, wait. So you girls hate couples, but you want to be part of one?" Corbin asked.

"Hello! That's what she just said!" Monique said hitting his shoulder.

"Okay, whatever. I'm gonna go talk to Zac before you guys kill me." Corbin said.

"I'll come with." Karl said.

"I'll go check and see if Nessa is alright..." Ryne said.

"Yeah, I'll go with you, so if Kevin isn't done talking to her, then you wont be bored alone." Chris said following Ryne.

"I think I'll go with those two.." Lucas said.

"Uhh." Raymund and Marc said together.

"You guys a fine." Ashley laughed.

"Yeah, they're just scared that we'll hit them. Or well, except for Karl, he and Zac have just been talking a lot lately." Olesya laughed.

"Yeah, I think if Karl hadn't been there for Zac so much, then Zac would've blown up by now." Julia said.

"Oh." Karl and Raymund mouthed.

"But why would Zac talk to Karl, instead of Corbin or someone else he's known longer?" Tin asked.

"I think Zac just wanted to open up to someone who didn't already know what was going on. You know, a fresh opinion." Jed said. "That's how I am sometimes." He shrugged.

"I see." Tin nodded.

"Well, I'm pooped out. I think I'm gonna go to the other car so Nessa and Kev can still have a little more time talking." Jenalyn said.

"Alright. We'll see you guys back at the hotel." Ashley said to the girls, Marc, and Raymund. Falisha and Jed went over to their usual car to talk to Bryan, the driver, leaving Ashley, Monique, Olesya, and Julia.

"So, exactly what do you two know?" Monique turned to Julia and Ashley. "You two have been the closest to Zac, other than Karl."

"Yeah, what's going on with Zac and Nessa?" Olesya asked.

"We'd like to say we know, but we don't." Julia sighed.

"Yeah. I mean, I found Nessa pounding grass outside before we came back into the gym. She was basically thinking about all that stuff she was yelling about." Ashley informed them.

"Yeah. Zac won't exactly spill either. He's been solid this whole time." Julia added.

"Gosh, I really hope that they work things out. Otherwise, this movie will crash without their natural chemistry." Olesya said, looking over to the car that Vanessa had gone into.

"Yep. And if this sequel crashes and burns, it won't even live up to the first..." Monique added.

"Then there might not be a third, like they planned." Ashley frowned.

"Well, there's not much we can do..." Julia sighed.

"Oh, there's always something we can do... especially when you've got Ashley Michelle Tisdale." Monique laughed.

"So true." Olesya joined Monique, laughing.

"Whateer, let's go to the car." Julia laughed. Ashley and Julia headed towards their usual car and joined Falisha and Jed, while Monique and Olesya walked over to Ryne, Lucas,and Chris to wait for Vanessa and Kevin to finish talking.

* * *

**With Corbin, Zac, and Karl.**

"Haha, deng the girls have you whipped." Karl laughed.

"Ha-ha, shut up. Let's just go talk to Zac." Corbin said.

"Right." Karl nodded. They walked around the corner, and found Zac sitting on a bench.

"Hey man." Corbin greeted, pulling Zac out of his thoughts.

"Sup Zac." Karl added.

"Oh, uh, hey guys." Zac said plainly.

"Uhmm." Corbin started, unsure of what to say, or how to put the words together.

"Look man, we were walking out of the school, and we heard everything." Karl explained.

"Are you serious?" Zac looked up again at the two.

"Yeah." they nodded.

"Oh god." Zac sunk his head back into his hands.

"Look Zac, I'm not really sure on what you should do or whatever, but we're here for you man." Corbin patted his friend on the shoulder sympathetically.

"Yeah, and all I've got to say is... you definitely need to find a way to fix this, otherwise, well, you're gonna have a lot on your plate." Karl added.

"Guys, I don't even know if it's even possible anymore to fix this. I didn't even know she cared about me calling her Vanessa. Heck, I didn't even know I was calling her that!" Zac's voice started to rise as he became angrier at himself.

"Dude. Don't worry there's always a way." Corbin tried to lighten up the mood.

"The last thing she said was 'I want the old Zac back... Goodbye Zac.'" Zac said softly, apparently hurt as well.

"You're kidding me right? She's letting it all go?" Corbin said shocked.

"But... Nessa wouldn't." Karl stuttered, shocked as well. "She wouldn't just let go of a friend like that, especially you, you guys are best friends!"

"Yeah, well, I don't exactly know what she meant by that, so I don't know." Zac sighed.

"Just giver her a little space... you know how girls get sometimes." Corbin suggested.

"Yeah, just fix things little by little." Karl insisted.

"I guess. I mean, I didn't want this to happen, that's for sure. Thanks guys, I think I'm gonna head over to Bryan and them so we could get going."

"Alright. I guess I should get to my car then." Corbin said.

"and I guess, I go with Zac, since we ride in the same car." Karl laughed.

"See you guys back at the hotel then." Corbin said, turning to walk to his car.

"Hey Corbin!" Zac said.

"Yeah?" Corbin turned around.

"Make sure she's alright... I still care." Zac said since Corbin rode in the same car as her.

"No problemo Zac." Corbin smiled, then kept walking to the car.

* * *

**With Vanessa.**

"Are you alright Miss Hudgens?" The driver asked her as he opened the door for her to get in.

"Yes. I'm fine." She sniffled, then smiled sweetly. "Thank you." She said, entering the car, and the driver just nodded.

_What the heck did I just do? _She thought as she groaned. _That was the first time I've ever exploded like that to Zac.. Did I just end our friendship? _She asked herself, as a tear fell down her cheek.

"Hey..." Kevin said as he sat next to her. She didn't respond. He noticed the tear that had fallen.

"I, um, well everyone kinda saw what happened." Kevin started. "We didn't mean to, I mean, we just walked out.." He tried to explain.

"It's fine." Vanessa said. "I know that the doors lock automatically and there was basically no other way to go around us."

"Yeah." Kevin said. "So, you wanna talk about it?" He asked, sympathetically.

"No." She whispered and shook her head. "Not right now."

"Alright. Well, I'm always here for you." He pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head.

Chris, Ryne, Lucas,Olesya, and Monique were outside, talking about what happened. None of them knew if it was a good time to enter the car yet, so they just kept talking. Finally Kevin jumped out of the car and told them that they could come in so that they could go already. They all entered and sat in their usual seats. The ride back to the hotel was quiet. No one knew what to say. They didn't want to say sorry for what happened because they knew it would only make Vanessa think about it more when they knew she wanted to stay far from the topic at that moment. They all kept giving her looks of support that read 'we're here for you' along with a weak smile. Vanessa just nodded, understanding their choice of keeping it a quiet ride back, which she was thankful for because she didn't have the strength to speak much after what happened.

Their car arrived to the hotel last, and they all piled out onto the sidewalk, thanking the driver before walking into the hotel.

* * *

**With Falisha, Jed, Zac, Karl, Julia, and Ashley in their car.**

Karl and Zac were the last two to get into the car before they drove off. Zac decided to sit in the front, next to Bryan, because he really didn't want his friends to bring up what happened and explain everything to them right then. He knew that they all saw what happened and he thought that was enough for them to know right now, and the others felt the same way, which is why they decided not to talk about it unless Zac brought up the topic himself.

"So you kids are quite the quiet bunch today..." Bryan started. "Is there something wrong?" He asked looking at everyone through the rear-view mirror, then to his right to look at Zac, then turned his eyes back to the road.

"Uh, everything is fine" Ashley smiled sweetly at Bryan through the rear-view mirror. "We're all just a little.. tired." She said, her voice sounding unconvinced of herself. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"You guys don't need to lie, especially to Bryan." Zac let out a breath.

"Uh, care to explain?" Bryan asked supportively while keeping his eyes on the road.

"Umm..." Falisha trailed off from her seat in the far back.

"We kinda don't really have the right to tell you... I mean, it's more of Zac's business, rather than ours." Julia said.

"Yeah, we just happened to... witness it without a choice." Karl said uneasy.

"Okay..." Bryan scrunched up his face a bit, even though Zac was the only one to see it.

"I'm uhh.. well..." Zac tried to begin. The six trusted Bryan with their life. He had always kept his promises to the six, and was always there for them whenever they needed to talk. He became somewhat of a grandfather figure to them, which is how they became the usual six that ride in the car that he drove for the cast members of the movie. The others usually switched drivers and groups that they rode in, but not these six.

"Girl problems, eh?" He chuckled a little.

"Uhm yeah." Zac smiled sheepishly. "How'd you know?"

"Trust me, I dealt with it a lot back in my day." Bryan glanced over to Zac, then back to the road.

"Oh, Bry the playa!" Ashley joked, as they all laughed.

"1. 2. 3." Julia counted...

"PIIIIIMP." they all said together. It was something they did whenever Bryan would talk about his old days with the ladies.

"Oh, hush." Bryan laughed. "So what's your problem Zacko. Maybe I could help you out a bit." Bryan said.

"Uh, well, I'm kinda fighting with Vanessa." Zac looked down.

"Ahh, yes, Miss Vanessa. She's quite the lovely lady, how could you possibly fight with her? I can't picture it."

"Then I guess you missed our little show we put on." Zac gave a light chuckle.

"Let me guess, she said that you've changed, but you haven't noticed?" Bryan asked.

"Bry, you are definitely scary." Ashley said.

"I told you, I've had experience. Anyways, you love her don't you?" Bryan asked.

"No.." Zac answered unconvincingly

"YES YOU DO!" Everyone else yelled together. Zac just let out a sigh.

"Only a person you love deeply can change you." Byan simply said.

"Yeah, but now she doesn't even want to speak to me." Zac mumbled.

"Then fix it." Bryan smiled.

"That's what Corbin and I said!" Karl said.

"Yeah, but how?" Zac asked.

"Do the little things. The little things that matter. Girls love it." Bryan smiled again.

"That's not true..." Jed brought a hand up to scratch his head as he began to think. "Is it?"

"You dummy! Of course we love it!" Falisha smacked the back of her boyfriend's head. "You do those kinds of things and you don't even know it?" Falisha laughed.

"I do?" He asked.

"Yes!"

"Like what?"

"Hmm, that one time... for Valentines day. Remember how you were broke? So you couldn't really buy anything big and fancy, or whatever... so you put Hershey Kisses and HUGS in a paper bag and gave it to me." Falisha said.

"Yeah..."

"And at the very bottom of the tacky brown paper bag, you put a note saying 'I love you, Happy Valentines babe.'"

"Yep."

"Well, I loved it! It was the sweetest thing anyone ever did for me on Valentines." Falisha smiled and kissed Jed on the cheek.

"Awwww." Ashley and Julia said together after hearing the short story.

"Oh, so that's what you mean by the little things?" Jed asked.

"Exactly!" Bryan said.

"Cool." Jed nodded.

"Okay... so I just do that?" Zac asked.

"Well, something like that. Hmm, you should just do a bunch of little things without her knowing it's you. You know, keep her mind running. Just keep doing the small things, and hopefully, you guys will at least be on talking terms at least." Bryan said pulling up to the curb in front of the hotel. They were the first car to arrive.

"I got it! Zac suddenly exclaimed. "Thanks Bryan!" Zac said getting out of the car, then ran down the street instead of walking into the hotel. Everyone else was still in the car since Zac practically zoomed off.

"Uh, okay, that was weird." Ashley raised her eyebrows.

"Definitely." Karl said getting out of the car.

"Where do you guys think he's going?" Jed asked.

"No idea... But I got all of that on tape!" Falisha squealed.

"Are you serious?" Julia asked.

"Yep. I started recording after you guys said 'Awwww' and all that jazz." Falisha laughed. "I got him running and everything."

"You are soo good." Ashley complimented.

"Well, thanks Bryan!" Jed said, he was the last one out of the car.

"No problem, it's my job. Anyways, make sure Zac doesn't go hurting himself doing whatever he's doing, and that he and Miss Vanessa don't ruin their friendship any further." Bryan replied before closing the door and making his way around the car to the driver's side.

"Will do, Bryan!" They all said together before walking into the hotel.

"Yeah, well you guys wanna go hang out in my room since Vanessa might want some quiet time in yours Ash?" Julia asked. She had a suite like Zac's, and had it all to herself as well since she was the latest cast member added, and there was no other girl to share it with. (The actors who play a main character only share suites together, and the extras share suites together)

"Sure." They all said together, entering the elevator.

"I'll text everyone to come up to your room." Ashley said, already beginning to text the others.

"What about Kevin?" Karl asked.

"Do you think he'll be with Vanessa?" Julia asked.

"I don't know..." Karl shrugged. "Most likely though.."

"Okay, we'll invite him later then." Ashley said, her eyes still on her phone as she texted.

"What about Zac?" Jed asked as they stepped out of the elevator, passing the security guards that guarded the elevators to make sure no fans got onto that level.

"I think he's occupied right now," Falisha laughed. "Just invite him later too."

"Alright.." Ashley said slowly. "And, done!" She squealed.

"Wow, new record or something?" Karl joked.

"Ha-ha shutup!" Ashley scoffed as they entered Julia's suite. "Anyways, should we invite Nessa later too then?"

"Uh, don't you think there might be a little tension between her and Zac?" Julia asked.

"Well, yeah, that's true, but then I'll feel bad for leaving her out." Ashley slightly frowned.

"Hm, how about we just get all the girls together like we used to and just hang out in your suite after everyone leaves here." Julia suggested.

"Ohhh! Yeah! She said she missed the old days when we used to do that!" Ashley nodded her head. "We'll tell Mo and Olesya when they get here."

"So what do you guys want to do then?" Falisha asked.

"Uh, well, maybe we should start planning out the little things for Vanessa's present." Karl suggested.

"Oh, you're right, we do need all the time we can get huh." Falisha looked at Karl.

"I think we should make two." Julia said.

"Why two videos?" Jed gave her a weird look.

"Well, even though I've only known her for like 4 months or less, I've still got a lot to say, and I KNOW for a fact that Ash could probably go on for ever with her message." Julia laughed.

"Hey!" Ashley glared at her.

"It's true. But anyways, here's my idea. I saw we talk it over with her parents while they plan out whats happening, when it's happening, and have them put 'Surprise Presentation/Performance' or whatever on the party programs so Vanessa doesn't know. Hence the name 'Surprise'. Anways, we show the video that's shorter.. you know, like a 10-15 minute video or something. It would all be like snippets and of course all the 'Happy 18th Birthday, Ness! We love you!' Then later, give her the longer version with the entire messages we leave her. That way, the guests don't get too bored, Nessa still gets to hear what we have to say, and we can leave out the stuff that isn't right for the entire party to see." Julia explained.

"What do you mean, not right for everyone to see?" Ashley asked.

"Oh, well you know, like... if someone says a bad word, or tells a quick story that would get Ness in trouble." Julia laughed.

"I get it." Ashley said. "I think that's a great idea!"

"Yeah." Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Alright, so, we gotta see what everyone else thinks of that." Falisha said writing it down on a notepad that was on the table. "Then, we have to ask Kenny for his help. Then, ask Auntie and Uncle if it's alright. Let's see what else do we have to do?"

"Find out what Ryne has planned for the smaller gifts." Ashley reminded her.

"Find and plan out the time to do it. Oh and where too." Karl added.

"Oh, and how it's gonna look. Like the backgrounds and stuff." Julia said.

"Okay, I think that's good enough for now. We can always add more if we need to." Falisha said putting the pencil down.

"Where is everyone?" Jed asked, suddenly there was a knock on the door. Everyone who Ashley had texted walked into the suite.

"Took you guys long enough." Ashley joked.

"So, what's up?" Corbin asked.

"We're planning Nessa's present." Julia answered.

"Yeah, Julia suggested that we have two videos made. One that's shorter with small parts from the other one and it'll be shown at the party, and another one that we'll give her that'll have everything on it." Falisha explained.

"That sounds good." Monique said as everyone else agreed.

"Alright, so, what did you have in mind for the smaller gifts Ryne?" Ashley asked.

They talked for a another two hours, planning and everything. Then everyone left except for Julia, Ashley, Monique, and Olesya. They were going to see how Vanessa was holding up.

* * *

**With Vanessa**

Vanessa got out of the car and told everyone that she just wanted some time alone before walking up to her room. She walked into her suite that she shared with Ashley.

"Hello?" Vanessa called out. "Ash, you here?"

No answer.

"She's probably with the girls." Vanessa shrugged and walked into her bedroom, and fell back onto her bed lettinger her legs hang over the side of the bed, sighing as she thought of everything that happened. She closed her eyes as she groaned, and rolled over onto her stomach. Once she opened her eyes, her face softened at the sight. There on her pillow was a small box of chocolates (a/n: you know, one of those really really small ones that only have like four pieces in them? Yeah, that kind.) and a single white tulip, with a note tied to it's stem. Vanessa swung her legs over the bed so she was parallel to the bed, stuck her feet into the air, and propped herself up with her elbows.

"What is this?" She asked no one in particular. She opened the small box of chocolates and gave a small laugh at what she saw. There were four pieces of chocolate, each with a pouting face. Then she turned to the note attached to the tulip with a string and read it aloud to herself.

"I haven't been the best. I'm sorry." She read aloud.

* * *

There it is! Yeah, I like tulips. HAHA. But I'll explain in the next chapter why its a tulip. Anyways! **REVIEW** **PLEASE**! 


	22. You're coming to dinner

Hmm, that little line thingy isn't working on my computer at the moment, but that's okay. Anyways, I'll cut to the chase, ENJOY!

- - -- - - --- - -- ----- - -- - -- -- - - -- - - - - -- - - --- -- - - - - -- --- -

"Who's this from?" Vanessa asked as she stared at the handwriting. It didn't match anyone's that she knew. It was too nice to be from any of the guys, but it wasn't girly enough to be from one of the girls. Plus, the girls wouldn't do this kind of thing anyways. She sighed, and set the tulip on her nightstand, then took one of the chocolates and ate it before closing the box, and setting it beside the tulip on the nightstand. She laid back down, chewing on the bite she had just taken, just as her cell phone began to ring.

"Hello?" She answered bluntly.

"Hey, Nessa! It's Ash!" Ashley said excitedly.

"Yeah, I think I would know my roommate's voice, no need to introduce yourself." Vanessa giggled.

"Ha-ha, funny. Anyways, I'm on my way over to the room, just wanted to know if you were there yet."

"Yeah, I'm in my bedroom, just laying here."

"Great! Well, I'm coming from JooJoo's room, and we were just wondering if you were okay with the girls coming over. You know like old times"

"Again with the nicknames." Vanessa heard Julia say in the background.

"Of course it's okay, Ash. We all practically share our rooms." Vanessa laughed. "But I thought we weren't doing that until the weekend?" She looked at her ceiling quizzically.

"Oh, yeah, we are. But hey, there's nothing wrong with today too." Ashley laughed.

"True.." Vanessa said slowly.

"Anyways, we're almost at the room, see you in a few." Ashley said.

"Alright, just come in my room. I'm kinda too lazy to get up, and I'm comfortable." Vanessa laughed.

"Okay, will, do. Bye." Ashley said before hanging up.

"Bye." Vanessa replied before tossing her phone beside her on the bed. She just laid there until the four other girls came into her room.

"Hey guys." Vanessa said, sitting up as they all came into her room.

"Hey Ness." they all replied. Ashley joined Vanessa and sat on her bed along with Olesya. Monique sat in the chair that was in her room, while Julia sat on the floor cross-legged.

"You know, you could sit on the bed Julia." Vanessa laughed.

"Yeah, I know, but for now, I'm comfortable on the floor. Plus the carpet in soft anyways." Julia said.

"Hmm, you seem pretty happy after what happened today." Ashley said.

"Yeah, well, I'm trying to forget about it. Wait.. How did you.." Vanessa started.

"We all saw what happened." Monique said as everyone else nodded.

"Oh." Vanessa said softly. "Well, that's pretty embarrassing."

"No it's not Ness, you know we're here for you, but we're here for Zac too." Olesya said as she gave a light squeeze on Vanessa's shoulder.

"Yeah, I know. Thanks you guys." Vanessa smiled.

"Deng, Ness, you weren't kidding when you said you stash chocolate everywhere." Ashley laughed pointing to the small box of chocolates on her nightstand.

"How cute! It's so small!" Julia giggled.

"Oh my gosh. What is this? Like a little emergency to-go kind of thing?" Monique asked as Olesya picked up the box and opened it. Ashley scooted closer to see what kinds of chocolates were inside.

"Not exactly, guys." Vanessa laughed. "My chocolate is over there in the drawers. I found these on my pillow along with that tulip when I got here." She explained.

"Tulip?" all the girls said together.

"Mmmmhmm. That one." Vanessa pointed to the Tulip on the nightstand.

"These are so cute!" Olesya squealed at the chocolates. Julia scooted closer to the nightstand since she was sitting on the ground and grabbed the tulip. She looked at it curiously and noticed it had a note.

"Yeah, I know." Vanessa agreed.

"What's this?" Julia said, touching the note that was still attached. By now, Monique got off the chair and sat next to Julia to read the note. "I haven't been the best. I'm sorry." Julia read aloud. "What?" Julia looked confused.

"Who wrote that?" Monique questioned.

"No idea. I don't recognize the handwriting." Vanessa answered. "Like I said, they were just sitting on my pillow."

_Pouting-faced Chocolates... 'I haven't been the best. I'm sorry.' _Ashley thought. _The little things.._ Ashley smirked.

"Yeah, well it's freakin' cute." Ashley grinned.

"Yeah." Vanessa and the other girls said.

"Gosh, I hate couples." Olesya said, remembering what they were saying earlier.

"Geez, Olesya." Monique rolled her eyes, and they laughed together.

"What?" Vanessa looked at them confused.

"She hates couples now." Ashley laughed.

"Yeah, but no offense or anything." Olesya laughed some more.

"You got that from Lyssa and the other girls, right?" Vanessa giggled.

"Yeah. But anyways, Kevin is too sweet." Olesya said as she calmed down. Vanessa just nodded. She was still unsure of who it was from. Ashley was in a deep thought, and Julia noticed.

Julia looked at Ashley, who finally looked at her and caught her eye. They kept looking at each other, understanding what each little movement in the other's face meant. Julia raised her eyebrows and Ashley just rolled her eyes.

"The little things." Ashley said aloud, and Julia's eyes widened and a grin crept onto her face. Ash just nodded.

"What?" Monique, Olesya, and Vanessa asked.

"Oh, uhh, the chocolates.. They're little things." Ashley tried to laugh. "See the small faces?" She smiled sheepishly.

"Okay.." Monique said slowly.

"Well, you look kinda tired, especially after what happened. So you should get some rest, Nessa." Julia said and stood up.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Vanessa said.

"Yeah, take a nap before dinner. I'll wake you up in a while." Ashley said, getting up as well.

"Thanks, Ash. And thanks to you girls too." Vanessa smiled as they began to file out of her room.

"Anytime!" They all said before closing her door.

They all followed Ashley as she motioned them to follow her into her bedroom.

"Okay you two, what was that?" Monique demanded.

"What was what?" Julia asked.

"That whole 'The little things' that Ash tried to cover." Olesya answered, slightly laughing at how bad Ashley was at covering it up.

"Yeah, Ash. You suck at it." Monique said, understanding why Olesya was laughing. "Anyways, spill."

"Okay, well, JooJoo knew what I meant since we ride in the same car. But anyways, Bry was trying to help Zac find a way to fix things with Nessa, and he told him 'do the little things, girls love that kind of stuff.'" Ashley explained.

"Yeah, and that had to be Zac." Julia added.

"Oh, I thought it was Kevin." Olesya raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, so did I." Monique said. "But are you sure it was Zac?"

"It had to be. 'I haven't been the best. I'm sorry'. He hasn't been the best person in the world lately... and he is sorry." Ashley said.

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Julia said.

"To Zac's room..." Monique said, walking out of Ashley's bedroom with the other three girls following.

Ashley and the girls knocked on Zac's door which was, well, next door. (a/n: remember, they have the same suites they did before and Vanessa's&Ashley's is right next door to Zac's, while everyone else's is on the other side of the hotel, but still on the same level)

Zac heard the knocking, but before he even got off the couch he was laying on, the four girls made their way in the room since Ashley had her copy of his keycard.

"And the point of knocking was?" Zac said sarcastically.

"I don't know? To let you know someone was here?" Ashley said. "Anyways, that's off point."

"So, what brings you ladies here?" Zac asked, ushering them to sit down.

"To hear your explanation." Olesya told him.

"Explanation?" Zac questioned. "Of..." He said slowly.

"Chocolates. Tulip. Note." Julia said each one by one.

"Chocolates with pouting faces. A white tulip. And a note that read 'I'm haven't been the best. I'm sorry.'" Monique explained deeper.

"What about it?" Zac asked, "Wait, how do you know about it?"

"Well, I do live with Vanessa." Ashley declared. Zac just rolled his eyes at the obvious answer.

"We were just spending time with Ness to see how she was holding up." Olesya told Zac.

"Oh." Zac muttered. "Is she.. you know, alright?" Zac asked caringly.

"She's in denial." Ashley said plainly, looking at the wall.

"Denial?" Zac asked dumbfounded.

"Yeah, or well, kinda. She's just trying to ignore the subject. But she's sleeping right now because we told her to since she looked tired." Julia explained.

"Well, did she know it was from me?" He asked. Olesya shook her head.

"No, I think she thinks it's from Kevin because of me." She said.

"Kevin? Are you serious? How?" Zac asked, as he voice rising a little.

"Chill Zac." Monique demanded.

"Sorry." He muttered again.

"Well, one, I kinda said 'I hate couples.'" Olesya said, causing Julia to laugh again. "And, two, she didn't recognize the handwriting."

"Yeah, the guy at the shop wrote the note. He said a white tulip meant forgiveness." Zac said. (a/n: There's actually more meanings to a tulip... but I looked around and finally found out that white meant forgiveness. Haha, I like just found that out right now, soo I got lucky when I chose that. But I just wanted it to be a tulip because I like them.)

"Hey, where'd you get those chocolates anyways? They were cute." Julia asked.

"This chocolate shop about a block down. I found it one day when you guys were all out, and I was walking around town." He explained.

"Oh. Neat." Julia said.

"Yeah, well, Nessa thought it was all cute. I think you should tell her it was you." Monique said.

"I can't. Not today. Especially after what happened." Zac looked down.

"Well, then at least come to dinner with us tonight!" Ashley pleaded. "You know the little things like Bry said. Show her that you do care, and show up to dinner with us for once."

"With everyone there." Julia added.

"I don't know... I mean, it'll be awkward." Zac started.

"Zachary Alexander Efron! You are going to dinner with us tonight!" Ashley demanded with a serious tone.

"Okay..." Zac replied slowly. "Ash, you're starting to get scary."

"Ash, chill. Look, Zac just please. I mean, at least it'll show Ness that you aren't ignoring spending time with everyone. Or at least it'll look like you're trying to change things back to normal." Monique insisted.

"Fine, I'll go." Zac caved, and let out a breath.

"Great, now go get ready so we can approve of what you're wearing." Julia said after clapping her hands together.

"Why do you have to approve?" He asked.

"Hello! You're asking for forgiveness." Ashley laughed. "Enough said."

"Plus, it's just the old gang for tonight, and we're going to a fancy restaurant." Olesya added.

"Really? Why aren't the others coming?" Monique asked.

"They said they really weren't into the fancy things. Plus the girls said they didn't bring anything to wear, so they said they'll pick something up when they go home this weekend, and go with us next time." Julia explained.

"So who exactly is going?" Zac asked.

"Well, all of us here, Nessa, Chris, Corbin, Lucas, Ryne, and maybe Kevin." Ashley answered. Zac groaned at the last name Ashley said.

"Not a big fan of Kev's eh?" Julia joked.

"He's alright." Zac shrugged. "I guess it's still bugs me that they're going out."

"Well, we need to go shower." Ashley said getting up. "We'll be back to check up on you." Ashley eyed him.

"Yeah, I'll be back in about 20-25 minutes." Julia laughed.

"We'll be back in about 30 minutes." Monique said, pointing to herself and Olesya.

"Geez, you guys are quick." Ashley looked at them.

"Well, this isn't prom or anything." Julia laughed.

"Whatever, I'm next door anyways. I'll try and hurry." Ashley said.

"Okay." Zac said walking them to the door.

"Ash, you better text or call the guys and tell them to get ready too." Monique laughed once they were in the hallway.

"Yeah, I know. I gotta wake up Nessa after I shower. See you ladies in a little bit." Ashley said walking into her and Vanessa's suite.

They all started to get ready for dinner. Julia,Olesya, and Monique stopped by the guys' suites just to make sure they were getting ready since they knew they would wait last minute. Julia was the first to finish getting ready, so she headed over to Zac's suite. On her way she bumped into Kevin.

"Hey Kev." She gave him a warm smile.

"Hey..." He looked at her. "Julia." He finished.

"Uhm is something wrong?" She waved a hand in his face, laughing.

"Oh, uh, no. You look really nice." He smiled.

"Really think so?" She twirled around in her white halter dress that she was wearing, along with white flats, a long gold chain around her neck with an anchor, another gold chain that was a bit shorter with a heart, and her hair curled at the ends. "I've been dying to wear this outfit." She laughed.

"Yeah, you look great." He assured her.

"Thanks. So are you coming along with us? You know, since Nessa and everything." She asked.

"Uh, nah, I kinda don't have anything nice to wear. Let alone anything nice enough that's clean." He joked.

"Thats what you get. Now you're gonna miss out on a fun night of etiquette and proper manners, with a pinch of joking around." She laughed.

"Well, then, if you put it that way, I don't think I can handle a night with little fun." He laughed.

"Whatever, I was kidding. Anyways, I gotta go check on Zac. See you later!" She said as she continued to walk.

"Later." He greeted then kept walking the way he was going. A few minutes later he ran into Monique and Olesya.

"Hey girls." He smiled.

"Hey Kevin." The returned the smile. "Hey have you seen Julia?"

"Uh, yeah, I just ran into her a few minutes ago. She said she was on her way to check on Zac." He replied.

"Okay, thanks." Monique said.

"So, I take it you're not coming with us tonight?" Olesya asked.

"No, sorry, not tonight, I need to pack for the weekend. Next time though, promise." He said.

"Alright. Well, we should get going. See you tomorrow Kevin!" Olesya said.

"Night. Have fun."

Julia walked into Zac's room, and found him sitting watching TV, still in the same clothes.

"Zac! What are you doing!" She yelled.

"What?" He asked.

"You're supposed to be getting ready!"

"I took a shower then I got lazy." He shrugged, still watching TV. Then Olesya and Monique walked in.

"ZAC!" They both yelled. "Why aren't you ready?" Monique added.

"I got lazy." Julia said, mocking Zac's voice. "But he took a shower." She said with her normal voice.

"Well, at least that was a start." Olesya said.

"Well, you know what this means." Monique said, eyeing the two girls.

"Uh, what are you girls doing.." Zac started as they started to near him.

"Well since you were too lazy to get ready, we're going to choose what you're wearing. That way, you won't choose something ugly." Julia said.

"I dress nice!" Zac defended.

"Yeah, but you're emotionally unstable, so you're not your best." Olesya laughed.

"C'mon, if you want Nessa's forgiveness, you're at least going to look nice asking for it." Monique dragged him into his bedroom closet.

"Okay... let's see." Julia began.

"Can I wear jeans at least?" Zac asked.

"No! This is a nice restaurant, Zac. Hello! Look at how we're dressed." Monique said referring to the black strapless dress she was wearing, and the light orange knee-length dress that Olesya was wearing.

"Here. You can wear these dark jeans." Julia said handing him his pair of jeans. "It's dark out, so they won't really look like jeans."

"Thank you." Zac said.

"Hmm, here." Monique handed him a white dress shirt with thin red stripes that weren't really visible from far away, and a red sweater to go on top.

"Do I get to choose which one?" He asked.

"No, you're wearing the dress shirt under the sweater. You don't have to tuck in the shirt, just fold the cuffs over the end of the sweater, and fix the collar so it's on top of the sweater." Monique instructed him.

"Oh, and here." Olesya said picking out a black blazer, and handing it to him.

"Whatever, I'm wearing my converse then." Zac said taking the clothes into the bathroom.

"That's fine with us." Julia said. "I bet all the other guys aren't wearing nice shoes anyways."

"Zac hurry up." Monique said.

"I'm gonna go check on Ash and Ness." Olesya said, leaving the room.

"Yeah, good idea. Hopefully Ash remembered to wake Nessa up." Julia laughed. Then Zac emerged from the bathroom in the clothes the girls had picked out.

"See, now that wasn't so hard." Monique said. Zac just shot her a sarcastic smile.

"Well, I think we did a good job choosing your outfit." Julia said.

"Yeah, at least you guys didn't put me in a dress." Zac joked.

"Oh, I've got another one. I think it'll bring out your eyes." Julia said, as Monique giggled.

"Ooooh, you really think so Julia?" Zac put on a girly voice as he pretended to prop his hands under his chin, fingers pointing each other, and fluttered his eyes. "You know, I just can't seem to find the right dress these days." He said, adding on a little giggle.

"You're such a loser, I'm about to call you Alexa whenever you do that." Monique laughed.

"Why Alexa?" Zac looked at her.

"Because, I couldn't think of a way to change 'Zac' into a girl name, and Alexander is your middle name." Monique said in a duh-voice.

"Okay, anyways, the guys should be here any minute." Julia laughed, as the door opened.

"Speaking of the children..." Monique looked towards the door.

"We're not children." Lucas ridiculed. "I happen to be an adult."

"Yeah, legally." Ryne laughed. "But hey, nothing wrong with wanting live our childhood to the fullest."

"Yeah, you guys act childish too, Monique." Corbin looked at her.

"Whatever." Monique glared at him.

"Okay, see, now both of you are acting childish." Chris pointed out.

"They said they'll meet us downstairs." Olesya said walking into the suite, referring to Ashley and Vanessa.

"Alright, let's get going than shall we?" Monique said getting up with Julia and the three girls hooked their arms together and made their way to the elevators as Zac, Corbin, Chris, Ryne, and Lucas followed.

The gang sat in the chairs downstairs in the lobby as they waited for Ashley and Vanessa to come down. After about ten minutes of waiting, Vanessa and Ashley finally came. Ashley was wearing a brown spaghetti strap dress with a simple flower design on the side, cowboy boots, and her hair tied in a messy ponytail. Vanessa was wearing a red halter dress, similar to Julia's, white flats, with her hair curled.

"Sorry we took so long." Vanessa apologized. All the guys were staring at her.

"Yeah, sorry, I kinda woke her up late." Ashley apologized as well.

"It's fine." Julia said getting up from her seat, and walked towards the two girls standing. On her way, as she passed the guys she lifted their jaws into place. "Close you're mouth and just compliment her already." Julia whispered to Zac since he was the last one in line on the couch.

"Right." He whispered. Monique, Olesya, Ashley, and Vanessa were giggling at the guys since they saw Julia shut their mouths.

"Uhm," Zac said uneasy. "You look great Nessa." Zac said as he got up.

"Thanks." She said quietly and looked down at the ground. Everyone could sense the awkwardness.

"So, uh, should get going then?" Ryne asked.

"Yeah, right... We don't want to uh keep the drivers waiting." Lucas added.

"Or my stomach." Corbin said after his stomach growled loudly. Everyone just laughed, and made their way out to the car. Bryan was driving them tonight.

Vanessa got in first and sat in the very back. Then Ashley, Monique, and Julia all got into the back seat as well. Ryne, Chris, Corbin, Lucas sat in the middle seat with Olesya since she had a tiny figure, and Zac sat in the front.

"So... you make a move yet?" Bryan muttered to Zac as they pulled out.

"Yeah, I did." Zac nodded.

"What did you do?"

"Gave her a white tulip and chocolates." Zac whispered.

"Ah, nice touch with the white." Bryan nodded.

"Yeah, the guy at the shop said it had something to do with forgiveness." Zac said.

"Yep. Hopefully she knows that." Bryan gave a small chuckle.

"Hopefully." Zac repeated.

"Did you let her know it was you?"

"No. She thinks it's from her boyfriend according to the girls. But they said she loved it." Zac sighed.

"Ouch. There's a another guy in the way?" Bryan asked. Zac didn't respond, he just nodded.

"Well, then, that means you gotta be careful with what you do now." Bryan sighed.

"What do you mean?" Zac looked over at him.

"Well, she might think it's always her boyfriend, and never even think that it's from you, so she won't forgive you if she thinks it's him." Bryan explained.

"So what should I do then?" Zac asked.

"Hmm, still do the little things, BUT, make sure they have meaning. I mean sure you did good with the color of the flower, and I'm sure she loves chocolate since she's a girl, but you know, they got to have meaning. Like, things she knows that you only know about, or things between you two... Things that eventually lead to you." Bryan tried to explain.

"So.. things that mean things to us, and not other people?" Zac asked.

"Well, you can put it that way, but it doesn't have to just be between you two. I mean, do the little things to remind her of all the good times you two have had together, you know, that kind of stuff."

"Okay." Zac nodded, "I think I know what you're talking about."

"Alright. That's my boy." Bryan smiled. "Anyways. We're here!" Bryan called out, and got out of the car. The guys all got out, and Bryan stood next to the door helping the girls out.

"Thanks for the ride Bry." Ashley smiled.

"Once again, no problemo. Plus they pay me." Bryan winked.

"Maybe they pay you too much since you're always having fun with us." Julia joked.

"Hey, you do what you love and love what you do, and I do too." Bryan grinned.

"Aw, you love us." Ashley cooed.

"See, you wouldn't like driving anyone else around but us." Julia laughed.

"Nope, you are one of my usuals, and my usuals are the best." Bryan said looking at Zac, Ashley, and Julia.

"Hey, what about us?" Vanessa asked.

"Oh, and of course any of the other members of the cast are always welcome in my car as well, Miss Vanessa." Bryan bowed his head to her.

"I was just kidding Bryan." Vanessa giggled. "But thank you. I always enjoy riding in your car." She smiled. "Plus, you play the best music." She added.

"Thank you." Bryan grinned. "Well, you kids have a good dinner. Just holla at me when you need me. You guys have the number."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Corbin said, putting his hands in the air as if he was stopping traffic. "How come your guys' driver says 'Holla at me.'? Ours just says 'Call me.'" Corbin asked.

"Because, he spends way too much time with us." Ashley laughed.

"No fair. I want the cool driver." Corbin pouted. "I'll trade you." He said looking at Ashley, Julia and Zac.

"Now way!" They all responded, causing everyone to laugh.

"Fine, I'm just going to have to teach Justin some new words then." Corbin said, referring to his usual driver.

"Whatever, let's get going, I'm starved." Monique said.

"Later Bryan." they all said before entering the restaurant.

They were lead to a private V.I.P. Area of the restaurant where they wouldn't be disturbed. Everyone quickly ran to a seat except for Vanessa and Zac, leaving two seats open... right next to each other. They all had planned that earlier. They wanted the two to fix their problem. Vanessa quickly looked at Zac, then took a seat. Zac just paused for a second before pulling himself together, he took a deep breath, then took the last seat next to her. Everyone smiled at each other for accomplishing their little scheme, then looked over their menus to see what they wanted.

_You can't ignore him forever. _Vanessa thought to herself. _That'll be just as worse. But what am I supposed to say? I think he heard me before I walked away. _She thought, not paying attention to her menu.

_Talk to her. Talk to her.. _Zac kept telling himself mentally. _Wait, no, she might get mad... or cry.. or.. I don't know. Gosh I feel so bad._

The waiter came and took their orders before leaving again. Everyone was holding little side conversations except for Zac and Vanessa, who were basically off in their own worlds thinking.

_It's my fault we're in this mess, ugh. I was the one who waited too long. _Zac thought.

_What if he really thinks I hate him? Or that I don't want to be friends anymore? _Vanessa thought, making her eyes widen a bit.

_It's really getting hot in here.. _Zac thought, moving his collar around a bit. He kept fidgeting with his collar.

_What the heck is he doing? _Vanessa asked herself as she noticed Zac kept moving around.

"Uh, Zac, you alright?" Chris asked from the other side of him.

"Uhm, yeah. No. I'll be back, I need some fresh air." Zac said, getting up, and grabbing his jacket off the back of the chair before speed walking outside.

"What was that all about?" Lucas said.

"Somethings up." Monique muttered.

"Definitely." Olesya nodded.

"I think I'll go talk to him." Corbin said, as he started to stand.

"Uhm, no!" Vanessa said quickly. "Uhm, I'll go. All of you were talking about things anyways... So, I'll go. You guys continue with your conversations." Vanessa smiled sweetly before walking towards the entrance.

"Wow, I didn't think she would want to talk to Zac." Corbin said sitting back down.

"Well, I wonder how that'll go..." Ashley said, everyone either shrugged or nodded as the waiter came back with their drinks.

"Uhm, are these two still joining you guys?" The young waiter asked, pointing to the two empty seats.

"Oh, yeah, they just went outside to talk in private." Chris told the waiter.

"Alright." He nodded and set down Zac's and Vanessa's drinks they ordered.

- -- -- - --- -- -- - --- - - - - -- - - - ---- - --

Haha, suprisingly, my chapters are getting longer than what I used to write, but that's okay. Hmm, dun dun dun, what's gonna happen outside? LOL. Well, what did you guys think? I kinda thought it was fluffy, but whatever, all of this is basically needed to understand what I'm leading to... soo yeah. Thanks for the reviews guys! Weee, let's keep that average of 20 reviews per chapters yeah? Good. Haha, the more reviews, the faster I try to update. Soo, REVIEW PLEASE! Well, I'm off to write the next chapter so I can update soon maybe. byee


	23. Timing is key

Hey guys! Haha, well, once again I kept re-writing this chapter. HAHA. I think I wrote it like 4 times? Yeah, something like that. Anyways, keep reviewing, and ENJOY!

-- - -- -- -- - -- - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - -

Vanessa calmly walked through the restaurant as she made her way to the entrance. Once she walked out onto the side walk, she looked both ways for any sign of Zac. To her right there was no one down the path.

"He couldn't be that far." Vanessa said to no one, then turned left and started walking that way. She smiled politely as she passed an elderly couple holding hands.

"How cute." She mumbled and continued to walk, checking every bench she passed, until she heard his familiar voice not to far. She walked a little further and saw Zac, sitting on a bench leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, but his head was turned away from her. Vanessa continued to walk closer until she saw him move his head as he looked at the ground laughing, revealing a beautiful girl sitting next to him, giggling. Vanessa froze in her tracks.

_What? _Vanessa thought as she looked at the two again. _He lied? Oh god, turn around before he sees you!_ She quickly turned around and started to walk back to the restaurant quickly. Doing so, she bumped into someone as she was staring at the ground.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." She said shyly regaining her balance with the help of the other person.

"Ness, it's alright it's just me." Corbin chuckled.

"Corbin? What are you doing out here?" Vanessa asked.

"The gang didn't want you walking out here by yourself, so I came out." He smiled.

"Thanks." She mumbled. Corbin noticed a tear had fallen on her cheek. His facial expression turned to one of concern.

"You okay, Ness?" He said wiping the tear away.

"Oh, uhm, yeah... Thanks." She smiled.

"Anytime, but you know I'm here for you... Did Zac do something?" He asked.

"No. No. I just came out here but he looks like he's doing just fine." Vanessa said.

"Well then where is he?" Corbin looked at her.

"Over there." Vanessa pointed over her shoulder. Corbin looked over to where she was pointing and saw Zac with an attractive brunette, and understood why she shed a tear.

"Oh." was all he said. "Come on, let's go for a walk... this way." He said turning back towards the restaurant. Vanessa just nodded and followed beside him.

"So... I'm guessing you didn't talk to him then?" He asked, Vanessa shook her head.

"He looks happy, so why should I interrupt him. He obviously isn't happy when I'm around." She said.

"Hey. Don't you ever say that. It's impossible, you make everyone happy." Corbin tried to cheer her up.

"Apparently not." She mumbled.

"Are you jealous?" He looked at her.

"No, I have a boyfriend..." She gave him a look.

"Are you sure?" He pushed on the subject. They passed the restaurant and continued walking a few doors down. Vanessa sighed, and sat down on a bench.

"I'm jealous that he can be happy around a total stranger, but not me." Vanessa looked down. "Ugh, I hate how you always get things out of me."

"I have super powers." Corbin joked as Vanessa lightly laughed. "But I listen." He shrugged. "he still wants to be your friend though Ness."

"Yeah right."

"No lie. But I heard that he heard you say something about giving an official goodbye?" He asked.

"I didn't mean it. I was just.. caught up in the moment." She explained.

"I see, so you still want to be friends then too?" He asked.

"Of course. I mean, we're best friends.. or were.. I don't know, but I do want things back the way they used to."

"Well, I hope they do. C'mon let's go back in, hopefully the food is there." Corbin said excitedly.

"Always changing the subject to food." Vanessa rolled her eyes and walked back to the restaurant with him.

"Well, I am a growing boy. I need my nutrients." Corbin laughed as they stepped into the restaurant.

"Yeah, sometimes I think you have too many." She laughed, as they sat down at the table. Vanessa noticed Zac wasn't back yet, and she just sighed.

"What happened?" Monique whispered to Corbin since they were sitting next to each other.

"I'll tell you later." He whispered back.

"Fine, meet in my room when we get back." She whispered back and he responded with a nod. They all continued their side conversations. Occasionally , Olesya or Chris would talk to Vanessa, but she would only respond with short phrases, nods, and head shakes.

Zac came back about ten minutes after Corbin and Vanessa had come back. He gave a small smile to everyone before sitting down. He was just as quiet as Vanessa though. They all ate their food once it came, and continued to talk even after they were done, but Corbin was still on dessert. Zac sat in his seat, playing nervously with his fingers while Vanessa was sitting next to him continuously opening and closing her phone.

"Uhm, I think I'm gonna head out you guys..." Vanessa felt uncomfortable. "I'm just gonna take a cab back." She said.

"But you barely ate." Monique said, trying to get her to stay.

"Yeah, I'm not that hungry." She replied.

"It's okay. We eat free here anyways." Corbin said, moving on to his next sundae.

"Are you sure, Nessa?" Olesya asked.

"Yeah, I don't wanna take the car back, because then you guys won't have a way home. Don't worry, I've got money for a cab." Vanessa said getting up. Zac just starred at her, confused.

_She would never leave like this.._ He thought.

"I'll see you guys later." Vanessa gave a smile.

"Just be safe Ness." Ashley said as she turned to leave.

"Ash, I'm almost 18, I know how to take care of myself." Vanessa giggled and turned to walk out. The girls all had worried looks on their faces.

"Okay, I'll go with her." Ryne said getting up. "I'm done anyhow." He added.

"Thanks Ryne!" All the girls said together.

"Oh, hey, meet in Mo's later." Corbin whispered to Ryne before he left. Ryne nodded and quickly walked out. He caught up to Vanessa just as she was stepping outside.

"Hey! Ness, wait up." He called.

"Oh, uh, hey Ryne." She turned and smiled.

"Mind if I join you?" He asked politely.

"No." She shook her head. "But why aren't you staying."

"I'm finished with my food, but real question is why aren't _you _staying." He said waving a his hand for a cab.

"Uh, I kinda just felt weird. That's all." She said.

"Right." He nodded understandingly.

"So, the girls send you out here?" She laughed.

"No, but I sensed it on their faces and I was the first to speak up. So I came out here to make sure you're safe."

"Well, thanks." She smiled as they got in a cab.

"So, you hungry?" He asked.

"A little, I felt weird eating in there for some reason."

"Alright." He said before turning to the cab driver. "Uhm, could you take us to the nearest McDonald's?" Ryne asked.

"Sure thing kid." The cab driver said.

"Are you serious?" Vanessa laughed.

"Hey, do you want Ash and the girls mad at you for not eating?" He gave her a look.

"No..." She said slowly.

"Okay then." He said satisfied. Once they got to McDonald's, Ryne quickly ran inside, ordered, and came back to the cab, and asked the driver to go back to the hotel.

"Here you go Miss Hudgens." Ryne laughed and presented her meal.

"A happy meal?" She laughed.

"See, it works." He joked. "I don't know, you've had a rough day, so I thought a happy meal was reasonable, plus knowing you girls and your moods, you're probably not that hungry."

"Sometimes, you know girls too well." Vanessa laughed.

"Hey, you gotta know how girls are to understand them." He said.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes. "Thanks though."

"It's what I'm here for." He said. The cab pulled up in front of the hotel, which wasn't too far from McDonald's. Ryne got out and paid the driver.

"You know, I could've paid." Vanessa looked at him.

"Hm, I know, but you can pay next time." He laughed as they walked to the elevator. They joined other hotel guests and stood quietly in the elevator until they reached their floor.

"Well, thanks Ryne. You're the best." She gave him a hug.

"No problem Ness, and you better eat that." He laughed pointing to the happy meal she was holding.

"Don't worry, I'm heading to my room right now to eat it." She said walking towards her room.

"Night." He called back, heading towards Monique's and Olesya's suite.

"Took you long enough." Lucas said, opening the door for Ryne.

"I didn't think you guys would be back yet." He shrugged.

"Yeah, well, Corbin practically swallowed his last sundae." Olesya laughed.

"Where were you anyways?" Ashley asked as he took a seat.

"I bought her a happy meal since she didn't eat much, and you girls wouldn't kill her for not eating much back at the restaurant." Ryne said.

"Hmm, well, that's good at least." Ashley nodded in approval.

"Okay can we get this going?" Monique asked.

"Yeah. What's this all about?" Ryne asked.

"Well, it's pretty obvious. I mean Corbin here came back with Nessa instead of Zac coming back with her." Lucas said.

"Okay, can you just tell us Corbin." Julia said. "I don't want to get confused."

"Alright, well, like Lucas said, I came back with her even though I was just supposed to check if she was alright. I mean we all hoped for her and Zac to come back together, and that they settled their... problems. Or whatever you want to call them. But they didn't."

"Obviously." Monique scoffed.

"So you guys called a meeting to discuss the obvious?" Julia gave them a look.

"No, let me finish. See, I found her like a block away from the restaurant. Well, I kinda bumped into her, but that's beside the point. After bumping into her I noticed that she had a tear falling. And I asked where Zac was, and she just pointed over her shoulder. So, looked over to where she was pointing, and noticed Zac was sitting on a bench..."

"Okay.." Lucas said. "Why would she be.."

"With a girl." Corbin finished.

"What!" everyone exclaimed.

"And may I add, a very attractive girl... brunette, cute," Corbin started to paint an image with his words.

"Okay, okay we get the picture." Monique stopped him.

"How could he just..." Chris finally spoke, but trailed off.

"I don't know, but they were both sitting on the bench, laughing, looking like they were having a good time, and I guess Vanessa saw them and that's when I bumped into her when she was trying to leave I guess." Corbin explained.

"Oh, no. No, no, no, this is NOT good." Ashley groaned.

"Yeah, and now all of Zac's small plans aren't gonna really help much if she thinks he's off with some girl." Julia added.

"What plans?" All the guys looked at her.

"Zac's been trying to get her to forgive him." Olesya explained. "He left her a tulip and chocolates, but she doesn't know they're from him, and he plans to keep doing little things until she finds out and forgives him I guess."

"Are you serious?" Lucas looked at the girls who nodded. Then he started to chuckle. "Oh my god, this is really something."

"No, you think?" Ashley said sarcastically.

"Well, I think I'll call it a night." Chris said getting up.

"Yeah, us too." Ryne and Lucas got up.

"I guess I might as well too. Night you guys." Julia sighed and walked out.

"Well, I'm off." Corbin said getting off the couch.

"Ohhh no you're not. You my friend are going to talk to Zac. I don't care if you guys talk all night, sleep in his room, you're in basketball shorts anyways." Ashley said pulling him.

"Oww. You're too strong for a little person." Corbin complained.

"Do NOT make fun of my height. Now is not the time." She said, pulling him towards the other end of the hotel.

"Wow. That should be interesting." Olesya raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, I wonder how Nessa is right now." Monique nodded.

"Yeah. I think we should call it a night too, it's getting late."

"You're right. Night Olesya." Monique said walking to her bedroom.

"Night Mo." Olesya responded, walking to her own bedroom.

-- - -- -- -- - -- - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - -

**With Ashley and Corbin**

"Okay, GO! And you are going to explain everything to me tomorrow." Ashley said pushing him towards the door next door to her suite.

"What do I ask about?" He whispered to her.

"About the girl! Tell him that Ness saw him and all that. Ask who she was and everything!" Ashley hissed.

"Alright, alright. I'm going. You know, you really need some sleep, then you wouldn't be cranky." He said as he walked to Zac's door.

"I heard that." Ashley said before walking into her suite and Corbin winced. He walked to Zac's door and knocked on it. Zac opened the door, but he was on his cell phone talking to someone, so he just motioned for Corbin to come in. After Zac hung up, he looked over at Corbin who was sitting on the other couch.

"What's up?" Zac asked.

"A lot." Corbin said.

"Uh, okay. So why you here so late?" Zac asked.

"Ash made me." Corbin explained.

"Alright..." Zac said slowly as he eyed Corbin.

"You know when you walked out tonight at dinner?" Corbin cut right to the chase, Zac nodded. "Yeah well, you looked kinda weird. So I was gonna go out and see if you were alright, but Nessa stopped me and said she would go. So, I let her since well, you know you guys have things to sort out." Corbin began.

"She wanted to talk to me?" Zac said quietly. Corbin just nodded and continued.

"Yeah, well, she went after you to check on you, and then we all realized that Nessa was going out there alone at night, so I went after her just to make sure she was safe. Then when I bumped into her about a block away."

"But she never came to talk to me." Zac said.

"I know. When I found her, she was already heading back to the restaurant, and when I asked where you were, she pointed over her shoulder, behind her, and I saw you on a bench... with another girl." Corbin finished.

"You're kidding right?" Zac asked, and sunk his head into his hands.

"No man, she saw you with that girl." Corbin said.

"Ugh, now she probably thinks that I lied to her that I wasn't spending time with her because I have a girlfriend."

"Well, do you?" Corbin asked.

"What! No!" Zac exclaimed. "How could you think that when you all always say how obvious it is that I like her?"

"So, who was that girl then?"

"She was just a fan! I was walking, I found a bench, sat down, then she sat down and realized who I was, and we started talking." Zac explained.

"Oh." Corbin mouthed. "So, what was all that giggly stuff?"

"Dude, she was a fan, I had to be nice. I can't go out a just push people off, we do represent Disney." Zac gave Corbin a duh look.

"Right. Well, you're in deep." Corbin yawned.

"Yeah, no kidding." Zac said sarcastically.

"Hey, mind if I crash here? I'm kinda lazy." Corbin asked.

"Yeah, no problem, take the extra room, or the couch. Whatever." Zac waved it off as he was pacing around the room.

"Ugh, talk about perfect timing." Zac groaned and plopped back onto the other couch.

"Yeah, well, at least you guys weren't all happily hugging when Ness found you." Corbin said.

"Yeah, but still, she probably got the wrong idea, and probably thinks I lied to her, which only makes things worse."

"True, but you'll find a way." Corbin assured him. "I mean it's Vanessa, she can't go forever without talking to you. I mean, even though she was a pissed earlier, she still wanted to try and talk to you tonight. But, like you said, it was just bad timing." Corbin shrugged while he was laying down.

"Yeah." Zac sighed. "Well, I'm gonna try and get some sleep." He said getting up and walking to his room.

"Night man."

"Night."

-- - -- -- -- - -- - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - -

**With Vanessa (after Ryne left her)**

Vanessa let out a soft sigh as she put her purse down on the counter, opened up her happy meal box and grabbed a frenchfry.

"You guys dressed up, just to eat at McDonald's?" A voice asked from one of the couches. Vanessa was startled by the voice. After she realized who it was, she let out a breath.

"Don't do that! You scared me to death." Vanessa said trowing a frenchfry at the person before grabbing her happy meal off the counter, and sitting next to him.

"Sorry." Kevin chuckled, giving her a quick kiss as she sat down. "So McDonald's, eh? I know they have 'fancy ketchup' printed on the little packets, but I didn't know you dressed up to go there." He laughed again.

"Ha-ha. No, we went to a fancy restaurant, but I wasn't really hungry. Then I left early, and Ryne came with me just to make sure I was safe. Then on our way back, he bought me a happy meal so I could eat, and the girls wouldn't get mad at me for not eating." She said grabbing another fry.

"I see." He nodded understandingly. "So, why'd you leave early?"

"I just felt really uncomfortable." Vanessa said.

"With everything that happened?" He asked and Vanessa nodded.

"We, Zac and I, ended up sitting next to each other because the others already say down. And well, the whole night, everyone was talking. We'd both occasionally talk to the others, but never to each other." She spilled.

"I see."

"Yeah, and I just felt really weird having to sit next to him when neither of us would talk."

"So, why didn't you talk first?"

"Because.." Vanessa said, then began to think. "I don't know." He just nodded and took a frenchfry and ate it.

"Hey! Ryne bought this for me to eat!" She whined like a little kid. They both broke into laughter.

"Sharing is caring." He said.

"I know. I was just kidding." She laughed, offering him another fry, but he shook his head.

"So, why are you snooping around mine and Ash's suite at this hour?" She asked.

"One, I wasn't snooping. I _was _watching TV for a bit, but nothing was on. Two, can't a guy chill in his girlfriend's suite?" He laughed.

"No. Not without a reason if he chills in here without her knowing." She laughed.

"Okay, well, I was waiting for you. See, I've been meaning to talk to you all day, but well, things happened I guess. But we really need to talk" he said.

"Mmkay, well, is it a good thing or a bad thing? I mean those are the four worst words in a relationship, plus you added 'really'." She looked at him.

"Well, it depends on how you look at it I guess." He shrugged.

"Okay then, just tell me." She said, bracing herself.

"Alright, well..." He said slowly.

-- - -- -- -- - -- - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - -

Haha, sorry, I'm kinda having fun with my cliffs. Sooo, what did you guys think? LOL I tried to put in a lot of Ryne in this chapter for LOVERHINO(sorry if I spelled that wrong in any way..LOL) since you left a lonnnnnnng review Haha. Well, 20 reviews again until the next chapter, but that shouldn't be hard since theres like 75 of you guys on alert & 70 have it on their favorites, right? HAHA. REVIEW PLEASE & Thank yous. Later.


	24. Lovers and Friends

Dude, my bar thing still isn't working... LOL. Whatever. Anyways, sorry about making you guys wait a little longer. I planned on updating the next day after I posted that last chapter, but I've been working on other things. Hmm, yeahh, I forgot who it was, but about the story NOT getting to the debut part yet... The debut will be part of the very last chapters. LOL. But don't worry, sadly it's almost here. I just wanted to focus more of the stress and the process of planning one. Oh! And YES, I'm filipina.. or filipino. Whatever you want to call it. Haha, I never say "filipina" It sounds weird to me, but I AM a girl. haha. Soo... ENJOY!

- - -- -- - ----- -- -- -- -- -- - -- - -- --- - --- - --- - --- - - -- -- -- ------- ----- -- ----

"Just say it already Kevin." Vanessa said quietly as she looked down to her hands.

"I think you and..." Kevin began but was distracted by the door opening.

"Ugh, I hate the way things happen sometimes..." Ashley groaned as she walked through the door. "Ness, you here?" She called out, not even realizing anyone was there. Kevin let out a quick breath and dropped his head in frustration.

"So do I." He mumbled inaudible.

"I'm right here Ash." Vanessa said turning around to see Ashley.

"Oh, I didn't see you there." Ashley smiled.

"Hey Ash." Kevin lifted his head and gave her a small wave.

"Oh, hey Kev. Didn't see you there either." Ashley blushed. "I didn't interrupt anything did I?" She asked sheepishly.

"Uhh," Vanessa started but was cut off by Kevin.

"No, no worries, you didn't." Kevin gave her a smile.

"But you.." Vanessa tried to say.

"I was just leaving." Kevin said. "I'll just tell you another time." He whispered to Vanessa. Vanessa just gave a weak smile and nodded.

"Alright." Ashley said.

"Night Ash." Kevin said getting up.

"Night Kev." Ashley said back.

"Night Ness." He smiled and kissed her goodnight. They held it for a few seconds before breaking apart.

"Ahem." Ashley grinned, and the couple pulled apart.

"Night Kev." Vanessa smiled, then he walked out the door.

"Soooo..." Ashley began. "What was Kevin doing in here this late?" Ashley eyed Vanessa. Vanessa gave her a look.

"He was here when I got here." Vanessa answered.

"Mhhmm." Ashley eyed her suspiciously.

"Nothing happened Ash, you know I wouldn't do anything. Ew, especially at this age." Vanessa shook her head in disgust. Ashley burst into laughter.

"I was kidding Ness." She said between laughs.

"Yeah, but knowing you, you still want an explanation." Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"Of course." Ashley grinned. Vanessa just let out a soft sigh.

"Err, I interrupted something didn't I?" Ashley asked.

"Well, kinda." Vanessa said.

"Me and my timing." Ashley brought her hand up to her forehead.

"Well, to be honest, you didn't really interrupt much. He couldn't even get the words out." Vanessa shrugged.

"Well, did he say what it was about?" Ashley gave her a concerned look.

"Nope."

"Did he tell you if it was good or bad?" Ashley asked.

"Nope. He just said it depends how you look at it." Vanessa answered.

"Weird. I hate when that happens." Ashley said.

"Yeah. He seemed really nervous about it though." Vanessa looked at the wall.

"Why would he be nervous?"

"I don't know, remember?"

"Right." Ashley nodded. "But once, again, weird."

"Yeah. I mean, he said it could be good or bad, yet he seemed a little nervous to bring up the subject. Then, he said he's been wanting to talk to me about it all day, but things just kept getting in the way." Vanessa sighed.

"I see." Ashley said.

"Yeah. Well, I'm gonna get some sleep... Too much happened in just one day." Vanessa gave a small laugh.

"No kidding." Ashley said sarcastically. "Well, night Ness." Ashley said from her spot on the couch as Vanessa walked into her room.

"Night Ash." Vanessa said before closing her door. Ashley let out a sigh.

"Too much definitely happened today, you have no idea." Ashley groaned, throwing her head back before getting up and going to her own room.

- - -- - - --- - -- - - - -- - - - - -- ----- - -- - - - - - -- -

The cast woke up the next day, and got into their usual cars to be driven to the set. Once they arrived, they were all immediately pushed to wardrobe and make-up by the assistants.

"Uh, what's the hurry?" Lucas asked, as a woman was trying to push him towards make-up.

"Something about the big guys from Disney called this morning and demanded copies of how far we've gotten." The little woman said. "Now let's get moving!"

"Still, why the hurry?" Corbin whined.

"Because, we only had 4 short scenes on tape, and Kenny thought we had more, and they're expecting more." She answered in frustration, now all of you better run to your little butts right now, or else you'll be fired." With that threat, everyone ran to where they were supposed to, then switched after they finished. Once they were all finished, they made their way to the gym since that's where they would always meet.

"Ah, yes, you guys are finally ready." Kenny said as he saw everyone make their way in.

"Morning to you two Kenny." Corbin said sarcastically.

"Oh, right. Morning! Alright, anyways, we're on a tight schedule today everyone. I'm sure you've all heard by now that we've been asked to show how much we've gotten done. And well, we have gotten a lot done, it's just we haven't got it all down on tape like they would like us to. So, enough of this chit chat. Everyone is going to be filming today as you can see. I may not be there with you the whole entire time, but trust me, I'll be running around checking on everything. Alright, check the lists to see where you guys need to be right now, and we'll see where we go from there!" Kenny said as he clapped his hands together.

Everyone groaned, knowing today wouldn't be as fun as usual. They made their way over to the lists to see what they were recording today.

_Great. _Vanessa thought. _The whole day..._

_Yes! _Zac thought as he scanned the paper. _I'm filming with Vanessa the whole day! Now I can clear things up with her about last night and everything. _Zac double checked the list to make sure his eyes weren't playing any tricks. Then he looked around for Vanessa to see if they could walk together to the set they were on, but she was already gone. He sighed and made his way to the hallway they were recording in.

Zac got there, and found Vanessa talking to Kenny. He was telling her what he wanted from her as she nodded and smiled, then walked over to her spot and waited to begin. Kenny saw Zac making his way over to him.

"Zac! It's about time." Kenny joked. "Alright, I know you two know your lines, the emotions, and everything. So give me all you've got."

"You got it Kenny." Zac patted him on the shoulder and made his way over next to Vanessa.

"Hey." He let out a breath.

"Hi." She said, not looking at him.

"Look, Nessa, I..." Zac began.

"Zac, we don't have time for this. Today is work, not play. We need to get this done." She turned to look at him, then back to the locker that she was supposed to be putting her books in.

"Right. Well, can we talk later?" He asked quickly.

"I don't know..." She started but was cut off by Kenny's booming voice.

"Alright people! Zac, take your place..." Kenny directed, and Zac walked off the screen. "Alright, and action!" Kenny yelled. Vanessa began to put her books away, until Zac came behind her and tapped her on the shoulder like he was supposed to. They ran through the scene perfectly, without any flaws.

"Cut! That was perfect you two! Now let's do it again one more time, you know how I am." Kenny laughed as everyone went back to their marks. They ran through the scene once more, and once again, did it perfectly how Kenny wanted.

"That was great! Just what we needed. Alright, you two can take a ten minute break while we set up the next scene we're shooting." Kenny said before walking off to go check on everyone else. Vanessa put the books that she was holding onto a table that held all the props, and walked over to her water bottle. Zac saw that it was a perfect opportunity to explain to her while they had a short break, or at least start to explain to her. He walked over to her nervously with his hands in his front pockets.

"Uhm, great job." He complimented. Vanessa was caught off guard by his voice.

"Oh thanks, uh, you too." She said before turning around to her water bottle again. She closed her eyes, hoping that he wouldn't make her start yelling again.

"Thanks." He mumbled. "Look, Ness, what I was trying to say earlier."

"Zac, please..." She begged and turned to face him.

"No. Please, just let me finish." He pleaded. "What you saw yesterday, err last night, it wasn't what you think..." He began.

"How do you know what I saw yesterday? Or what I think of it?" She gave him a confused look.

"Corbin." he answered. "He told me you saw me with that girl last night."

"Oh." Vanessa looked down.

"And I just assumed that you were thinking that there was something more between me and her, and that I was lying to you. But I want you to know that there isn't." He said.

"Right." She said plainly.

"I was walking to get some fresh air, and she came up to me and started talking. She's a fan, Ness. I couldn't just blow her off. That would have reporters all over it."

"Okay. And you're telling me this because..." Vanessa said, waiting for an explanation.

"Well, I just didn't want you to get the wrong idea." He shrugged. "but I'm surprised you even wanted to talk to me last night. Corbin said that you stopped him from coming out to talk to me and you offered to come out instead."

"Look Zac, I know you heard me too yesterday, when I said all that goodbye stuff. I'm not even sure what I meant by that, but I still meant the other things I said. I still want to be friends, but things seem... different. You seem different."

"I know, I'm sorry Ness." Zac said.

"I know, but for some reason, it just doesn't seem like enough right now... I'm sorry. I just don't know." Vanessa said.

"But.." Zac protested.

"I'm sorry, I just need time to think things through." Vanessa apologized once more.

"Look, Nessa, Ness, Van, Vanessa, whatever you want me to call you... I miss you. I miss everything. I really don't want to just let this friendship go." Zac said.

"I don't either, but it's all so different and confusing Zac. I mean, I know people change, but why did you change so sudden? You treated me like we weren't best friends to begin with."

"I know, I'm sorry! I just.. have a lot on my shoulders." Zac sighed.

"They why didn't you just tell me? You could've came to me like you always do, Zac. We used to tell each other everything." Vanessa said as her eyes began to water.

"You make it sound so simple to do.." Zac mumbled.

"Then why's it so hard to talk to me now?" Vanessa asked softly tilting her head to look him in the eye.

"Ness, I can't..." Zac looked away.

"Zac, is something wrong?" Vanessa looked concerned.

"No.." He began. "Nothings wrong." He shook his head. Suddenly the little woman who was rushing them earlier that morning, poked her head around the corner and called them, saying they were needed on set now. Vanessa turned back to face Zac.

"Well, I guess we should get to work then." Vanessa said quietly before turning to leave, but Zac grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"Wait, uh, Ness, can we talk later? Tonight or something?" Zac asked.

"Sure" She answered without thinking first. "Oh, wait, Kev and I already made plans for dinner... We always go out before he leaves on the weekend." Vanessa

"Oh, alright." Zac just nodded understandingly. _He is her boyfriend.. _Zac thought.

"I'm sorry. How about after when he and I get back?" She asked, looking him in the eye. "I mean, we are next door to each other." She gave a small laugh.

"Uh, yeah, just walk on in. You and Ash have a key anyways." He smiled.

"Great." She smiled. "But I think we should get to the other set." She suggested.

"Oh, right. Let's get going." Zac said walking quickly with her, but he came to a sudden hault.

"Wait." He said.

"What?" Vanessa looked at him. "Something wrong?"

"So, does this mean... we're talking again? Like friends?" He asked.

"I don't know." She said. "We'll figure things out tonight, okay?" She said.

"Yeah." Zac nodded. He was happy that she was giving him another chance to explain, but worried that he'd choke again.

The day went by quickly, and everyone recorded as many scenes they needed to for that day. The gang went to the dance room to run through the dances for Vanessa's debut after Kenny finished his little speech he always made at the end of the day. As they were dancing with their partners, Vanessa and Kevin were holding a conversation.

"Hey, look I really need to tell you something." Kevin said.

"Mmmkay, shoot." Vanessa said, trying to focus on doing the waltz as well as the conversation.

"Well, I have to leave after this. I mean after practice. Karl and I have to drive back down."

"What?" Vanessa asked, concerned.

"Well, my mom called saying that my Lolo(a/n: it means Granfather in tagalog) was in the hospital."

"Oh my gosh, is he okay?" She gave him a worried look.

"Yeah, I think so, but our parents just want us down there as soon as possible so I told my mom Karl and I would drive back down today, while the others go down tomorrow."

"Oh." Vanessa said.

"Yeah, so, we can't really do our dinner thing." He told her.

"Its okay Kev, I understand. I mean, family should come first." She gave him a small smile.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Thanks." He said before kissing her. Her smile grew wider.

"So, is that what you wanted to tell me last night?" She looked at him. "I mean, you kinda looked nervous."

"Oh, uh, no. That wasn't it." He began to say.

"Then what was that about?" She looked worried again.

"Well, I just think.." He started but Vanessa cut him off again.

"break up?" She asked.

"What?" His eyes widened.

"Well, last night you said, Vanessa, we really need to talk. And usually in a relationship... that's what that phrase leads to." Kevin stared at her for a few minutes before speaking.

"Look, can we talk outside.. I don't think we should talk about it in here. I'm not sure how you'll react." He said. Vanessa nodded and the two walked outside. Everyone else didn't pay attention to it and thought it was just a couple thing. Once they were outside, Kevin took a deep breath before speaking again.

"Nessa, you know I love you right?" He asked.

"Yeah, and I love you too." She smiled.

"Good. But are you sure?" He asked.

"Kevin, what kind of question is that?" She laughed.

"Well, are you sure you love me, or do you just love me as a friend and you don't really realize it?" He asked. Vanessa was silent. She was thinking about what he said.

"I'm pretty sure I know." Vanessa answered. He sighed and grabbed both her hands in his. He stared at them, and gave them a light squeeze before speaking again.

"Enough to marry me?" He looked up from their hands to her eyes. Vanessa's eyes grew wide. She froze. Kevin just kept looking into her eyes waiting for her to speak.

- - -- --- -- - ----- - - -- - - -- -- - -- - - -- - - --- - -- - ---

Haahahahahhaa! Sorry, I just love cliffs. LOL. Hmm, this was pretty short compared to most of my chapters lately, but I wanted to end it there. haha. Well, you guys know how it works... I wait until you guys are around the average amount of reviews till the next update. Hopefully things won't get in the way. Soo, REVIEW PLEASE!


	25. mutual

Hey guys! Sorry for such the long wait. School just started, and I've already got a lot of work to do. Soo, chapters are probably going to be shorter, and you might have to wait a few more days until I get used to all the work and stuff. Well, Thanks for all the reviews! Enjoy!

- - -- - --- --- --- ---- -- - - - - - - -- - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - -

Vanessa stood there, trying to comprehend what Kevin just asked her.

"Are you kidding?" She choked out.

"No. Well, I mean, I wasn't proposing to you here and now." He chuckled.

"Oh." She let out a sigh of relief. "I mean, I'm only 17, and you're 18.. And.." She began to ramble.

"Yeah, I know Ness. But I'm just saying, isn't the whole point of dating, being in a relationship, and all that basically to see if that person _is _or _could be_ your potential husband or wife?" He asked.

"Well, I guess it eventually gets to that point." Vanessa shrugged.

"So I want you to answer me truthfully. If we were both older and wiser, had a stable job and salary to live off of, all that jazz, would you be able to marry me?" He asked.

"I.. I don't know Kev. I mean, that's kinda hard to picture." She looked up at him.

"Look, you know that I love you, and we've been together for a little over three months, but I don't think you're sure about this." He squeezed her hands a little.

"You're right." She said softly. "I don't think I love you. Or well, in that kind of way." She gave a small laugh.

"See."

"I think that I convinced myself that I did, since I already loved you to death as a friend..." she explained. Kevin just smiled at her and she gave him a weird look. "You knew?" She looked at him in surprise.

"Yeah.." He laughed. Vanessa laughed as well, and let go of his hands. She walked over to the wall and sat against it. Kevin followed her and sat next to her.

"How sad, I couldn't even see that myself." She said. "It's like I don't even know myself better than the people around me do."

"Hey, maybe I'm just physic." He laughed.

"Shut up." She slapped him playfully on the shoulder.

"I was kidding. But maybe it's not your fault. You could just have something else on your mind." He looked at her.

"Maybe." She said. "So, that's what you wanted to say to me last night?" She laughed.

"Well. No." He looked at her.

"Are you serious?" She gave him a look. "So, did all this come to mind after you left my suite last night?"

"Well, no, but what I wanted to tell you last night was that I don't think I'm the right guy to be your escort." He said.

"What do you mean?" She asked, confused.

"Well, I know you and Zac are really close, and you're having problems. Plus you even said that you guys barely get the time or chance to talk, so I thought I'd ask you to just switch me with him. I thought it would help." He suggested.

"So, last night, you were going to tell me, that Zac should be my escort?"

"Yep." He nodded.

"Oh." She said plainly. "I don't know how that'll end up."

"Maybe it could rebuild your friendship." he said. "But just think about it, Ness. That's all I'm saying. I just want to help. I know how much his friendship means to you."

"Yeah, I will." she nodded and gave him a smile. "Thanks."

"It's what I do." He grinned.

"Soo.." She said slowly. "What are we?" She asked, waving her finger between them.

"WE, are two very very good friends, who just happened to have a mutual break up, I think. Am I right?" He grinned.

"Yes. Definitely, mutual." She nodded. "So, what do we tell the others?"

"Nothing. I think we should let them find out on their own." He laughed.

"How sad." She said sympathetically.

"What? You do that whenever you visit! You go sit at a table until one of us realizes it's you." He nudged her.

"So. It's like my... signature entrance with you guys." Vanessa joked.

"So. Then this shouldn't be a problem for you." He shot back.

"Whatever, let's go back inside. They're probably wondering where we are." She got up.

"Yeah. Come on." He said leading the way.

The two walked into the room, just as everyone was finishing one of the dances. Ashley looked at Vanessa and eyed her suspiciously, then laughed and turned away. Vanessa shook her head and giggled, thinking of what Ashley was probably thinking. Then her eyes wondered over to where Zac was laughing with Julia, and began to think.

_Maybe Kevin is right... It would give me and Zac more time to talk things out.. _

"Hey." Kevin said as she snapped out of her thoughts. "You know they finished everything without us?" He chuckled.  
"Oh, really?" She looked around, and everyone was putting their things away.

"Yeah, so Karl and I are gonna get going.." He said, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb, towards the door.

"Alright." She smiled and pulled him into a tight hug. "Have a safe trip, and call me later tonight, you know, let me know how things are."

"Promise." He smiled.

"Oh, and thanks, for you know..." She winked as they pulled apart.

"Yeah. No problem, at least I can say 'I kissed Vanessa Hudgens.'" He joked.

"Ouch, now you used me." She placed her hand over her heart, pretending to be hurt.

"I'm just kidding!" He laughed. "I know you like to keep your personal life out of the media. So, you're safe."

"Thank you." She laughed. "Now go! And tell your grandpa I said hi, and that I hope he gets better."

"Yes mam! Messenger Kevin is on the job!" He joked and saluted her before leaving with Karl.

Vanessa walked over to her things, and started to put them away in her bag. As she was finishing putting her things in her bag, Ashley came up to her.

"So.. you and Kevin were gone for a while." Ashley looked at her.

"It's not what you think, Ash." Vanessa laughed.

"Right. Well, you know you're eventually gonna tell me what happened." Ashley said as the two walked out towards the cars.

"Hm, maybe in a few years." Vanessa laughed.

"What? No fair! But I'm your best friend!" Ashley whined.

"Yeah, so, I think I'll wait until you and everyone else find out on your own."

"Well that's no fun."

"Whatever. So you wanna do something tonight? Kevin and Karl had to go back home early.." Vanessa explained.

"Oh, I can't. We're all gonna talk about your birthday presents and what to get you." Ashley said excitedly.

"You guys have been doing that forever! Plus you have 3 more months." Vanessa said.

"Exactly. But, you should be happy we're putting this much thought into it." Ashley grinned.

"I am. So, can I at least have a hint in what it is?" Vanessa pleaded.

"No!"

"Will I like it at least?"

"I'm sure you will..." Ashley said sarcastically.

"Wait, so I wont?" Vanessa stopped walking. Ashley turned around and laughed.

"I don't know, Ness, will you?" Ashley joked.

"I don't know, will I?" Vanessa laughed.

"You just have to wait and see." Ashley said, and headed towards her car.

"Fine. Just wait until your birthday Ash..." Vanessa yelled as she made her way to her car.

Everyone headed back to the hotel. Vanessa headed to her and Ashley's suite since Ashley and everyone else were going to talk about Vanessa's presents. Zac headed to his own suite as well since he assumed Vanessa was still having dinner with Kevin that evening.

- - - - ------ -- --- - -- - -- - -- ---- - -- - -- - - -- --------- -- - -

**With Ashley and them...**

Ashley closed the door behind her as everyone met in Julia's suite once more to discuss Vanessa's presents.

"Alright," Ashley said, making her way to sit on the couch. "So, all of you guys are going to go home this weekend and write out what you're going to say or whatever, while we do the same up here." Ashley explained as everyone nodded.

"Yep. And, I'm gonna head over to Vanessa's and ask Stella and her parents, including Jayden, if they want to be part of the video too." Falisha added.

"Great. I'm pretty sure that they'll want to be part of it. Oh! And don't forget to ask her parents if we could have one of those special moment things during the debut, and have them put it in the programs if they're gonna let us." Ashley reminded Falisha.

"Got it." Falisha stated.

"Okay, so, while we're gone, you guys are gonna go out and see if you guys can find the smaller presents right?" Tin asked.

"Yeah, and make sure theres enough for all of us.." Lyssa added. (a/n: Remember, I didn't explain what these "smaller" presents are yet.. Haha, just wanted to clear that up. You guys will find out at the debut.)

"So, you guys told Kevin and Zac what we're doing right?" Corbin inquired.

"I'm pretty sure Karl told Kevin. But I don't think Zac knows whats going on..." Olesya gazed at everyone.

"Are you serious? Zac still doesn't know?" Monique asked. "No one told him?" Everyone shook their heads, looking at each other. "Well, someone needs to get that boy in here so we can talk to him." She demanded.

"I'll go get him." Chris offered, as he stood up and jogged out the door before anyone could say anything.

"Okay, so now we've got Zac covered..." Jenalyn began, trying to get the conversation going again.

"I guess that's it for now, right?" Lucas asked.

"Yep, I already talked to Kenny today, so that's done. I guess we'll start filming next week." Ashley beamed, as well as everyone else. They were all proud of how much they planned and accomplished in just a few days, until Tin's face fell.

"Wait, _where _are we going to film all this? We haven't really planned that out." Tine looked at everyone as they realized they had missed that factor.

"Oh! I'll ask Kenny if he could get us another room for a little bit. That way, Ness doesn't know since she comes in everyone's rooms." Ashley grinned.

"What about her parents and stuff?" Corbin asked.

"They're coming out to visit soon I think. But I'll make sure when I see them this weekend." Falisha answered.

"Okay, we're all set then." Monique clapped her hands together.

"Great, I need to go get ready to leave." Jen said getting up, along with the others that were leaving.

"Alright, well, have a safe trip you guys!" Ashley said hugging the girls before they left, leaving the original cast left in the room except for Zac and Vanessa.

"Oh, and before I forget, we're all going out to breakfast.. like old times. For Nessa." Ashley added. "And girls, we're having a girls night tonight." Ashley smirked.

"Like oh my gosh! Can we come?" Lucas mocked in a girls voice.

"I know! How come we weren't invited? You are so not my friend anymore." Corbin mimicked the same voice, and waved a hand at the girls.

"You guys are idiots." Monique laughed. "Anyways, why?" she turned back to Ashley. Olesya nodded, wondering the same question.

"She just needs it. She misses all the good times before.. and yeah. You all know what I'm saying." Ashley said in an obvious tone. Everyone nodded, understanding that Vanessa had missed all the old things they used to do together.

"Alright, well, I'm gonna go take a shower. Just head over anytime you guys want." Ashley said to the girls before leaving. After she left, Julia turned to the guys.

"So, what are you guys going to do tonight while we're having a blast?" Julia laughed.

"Hmm, I don't know." Lucas said.

"I'm down for anything." Chris shrugged. Ryne and Corbin both looked at each other and grinned.

"Buffet!" They both exclaimed, got up and walked out the door without saying goodbye.

"Well, I guess we're going with them." Lucas said. "See you tomorrow girls." He gave a little wave before leaving.

"Ditto on that." Chris laughed and waved as well before leaving the room.

Julia, Monique, and Olesya were the only ones left in Julia's suite so they just decided to watch a little TV since they knew Ashely would be in the shower, and they thought Vanessa was still going out with Kevin for dinner.

-- - - - - -- - -- ----- - - - -- - - - - - - - -------- ---- - - - - - - - - --

**With Vanessa**

Vanessa walked into her suite. Once again, she was alone. She let out a small sigh and walked into her bedroom to get some clothes, then headed to the shower. After she had finished, she got bored and turned to her fan mail. Then something caught her eye in the bag full of letters. There was a slim, long, tube sticking out. Vanessa got up from her bed that she was laying on, and pulled it out, along with a handful of about five or six letters. She plopped back onto her bed, lying on her stomach this time, and read the letters first. She smiled as she read the letters from her fans, then she finally grabbed the tube and opened the end and pulled out a rolled paper the size of a poster. After unrolling it on the bed, using her phone and some other small things to keep it from rolling up again, her eyes widened and her mouth slightly dropped from what she saw.

- - - - --------- -- - - -- - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - -- -

Haha, well, there. I bet a grip of you guys are happy now huh? LOL. Your guys' reactions in your reviews are funny. Well, this story isn't done yet. There's only a few more chpaters left (depending on how long I make them), but it's not done just yet. LOL. Well, REVIE PLEASE! Thank you! Hmm, I should have another chapter out by friday, or the weekend. That's what I'm hoping, maybe sooner though because I'm gonna start the next chapter right now. Soo, later!


	26. Kyle

I'm sorry it's been a while.. haha well more than a while. but yeah, i've been busy. Like i said before, I only had time to get like a few sentences each day which kinda sucked, but sometimes it was nothing at all. Anywhoo, I know you guys have been waiting for me to update in soo long, so ima stop rambling and just let you guys read the chapter already. lol. enjoy!

* * *

The poster was laying on her bed, spread out. It was a picture of her from a photo shoot that she had done a few months earlier, but it wasn't exactly the _same _picture. Someone had drawn all over her face with a big bold marker, and had written cruel things all over saying she was a bad actress, that she looked hideous, and so on.

"Oh my gosh." She barely whispered through her hands that were covering her mouth, her eyes beginning to tear up. It was the very first piece of hate-mail she ever received throughout her growing career.

"Why would someone do this?" She asked, shaking her head. "This is so wrong." She said running her fingers over the words. After a few more seconds of starring at the poster, she quickly grabbed her purse and pulled on a big hoodie, then left the suite. She pulled on her sun glasses over her eyes as she rode down the elevator to the hotel lobby, and made her way out of the hotel. Vanessa had no idea where she was going, but she just needed to get out. She began walking down the street until she came to an empty park and decided to go sit on one of the isolated swings.

"I seriously didn't think my first hate mail would be like that." She said to herself, throwing her bag to the side on the sand, as well as her sandals, before taking a seat on the swing. She just kept staring at the sand as so many thoughts ran through her mind.

_I shouldn't even be reacting like this. _She thought, shaking her head. _It was just a first, and I'm pretty sure there's more to come. I just have to be strong, and take it. I still have more fans than I do haters... hopefully. _She sighed. Then she began to kick the sand in front of her with her toes, still intensively looking down at the down at the sand. Vanessa sat there for about ten minutes, grasping the chains of the swing as she continued to lightly kick the sand with her feet, occasionally making designs with her toes, thinking of anything she could to get her mind off of that poster. But she had no luck. It was a reality check that she had overlooked before that some people aren't going to like her work that she does, and some people would, and it kept her in a deep thought. Tears had started to run down her face, but she didn't care.

"Are you okay?" A small voice asked. Vanessa quickly sat up and wiped her face, trying to hold back the tears. A small boy, about 4 or 5 was standing in front of her with his head cocked to the side, trying to catch a glimpse of her face when she was staring at the ground.

"Uhm, yeah." She gave him a smile, she thought he was adorable. "Thank you."

"Why are you crying?" He asked, tilting his head to the other side.

"Uhm, well, I was.. err... hurt." She tried to explain.

"Oh." He said, making a big "O" with his mouth as he drew his head back a little before while saying it. "So are you better now?" He asked in a cute little voice again. Vanessa couldn't help but laugh at how cute and caring he was.

"Uh, not really." She giggled.

"but you're laughing, so you're happy." He looked puzzled.

"Well, I am happy because you're helping me." She smiled. "But I'm still sad on the inside."

"I see." He nodded. " OH! WAIT!" He suddenly exclaimed and wailed his arms in the air before running off.

"Okay.." Vanessa said slowly before giggling some more. The little boy had ran off somewhere, but she couldn't see where because the playground was in the way. The little boy had longish light brown, a small pudgy face, and hazel beady eyes. He was wearing khaki shorts, and a navy blue and white thick striped polo. After about a minute or so, the little boy came vigorously running back towards Vanessa with his short legs giving him small strides. Vanessa grinned at that.

"Here you go!" He beamed, handing her a freshly picked flower.

"Aww, thank you!" She said looking at the flower as he began to blush. It was missing a few petals since he had been running with it in his hands, but it was the thought that counted.

"There you are Kyle!" Vanessa heard a woman say from behind her.

"Hi mommy!" He waved excitedly.

"I'm so sorry if he bothered you, I've been looking for him everywhere... we were playing hide-and-seek. But thank you for watching him." His mother explained.

"It's fine." Vanessa shook her head. "You're son is quite the gentleman." Vanessa grinned showing her the flower that he had given her.

"She was crying momma! I made her happy!" He exclaimed.

"Oh really?" His mother looked at him.

"Uh huh, ask her!" He pointed to Vanessa, causing her to laugh some more.

"Yes you did, and thank you very much, Kyle. It's also nice to meet you." Vanessa held out her hand to him.

"It's nice too meet you too.. uhh.. I don't know your name.." He scratched his head.

"I'm Vanessa." She said.

"Vanessa!" He finished.

"I'm Carol." Kyle's mother said, holding her hand out to Vanessa.

"Vanessa." Vanessa said as she shook his mother's hand.

"Thank you again. You're a lovely young lady, and thank goodness he didn't end up in the wrong hands." Carol let out a sigh of relief.

"I hide good." He said to Vanessa.

"Apparently you do." Vanessa nodded. "And trust me Carol, really, it was no problem."

"So, are you new in town? We come here a lot, and I've never seen you here, but you look so familiar." Carol asked.

"Uhm, actually, no. I'm in town for work." Vanessa nodded her head.

"Wow, really? But you're so young. Jobs usually don't send people around as young as you to different places."

"Well, actually I'm an actress. I'm here filming a movie." Vanessa explained. She didn't mind having them know since they didn't know she was an actress in the first place.

"Oh really?" Carol said surprised. "Wow, that must be interesting. So what movies have you been in?"

"Not many, but I'm usually recognized for Disney's High School Musical." Vanessa said from her swing.

"That's where you're from!" Carol snapped her finger. "My kids love that movie!"

"Oh, I assumed Kyle was your only son.." Vanessa began.

"Oh, no, no. I have another son, and a daughter. They go to extracurricular activities at this time, so Kyle and I come to the park to spend time."

"Aww, that's so sweet." Vanessa said.

"You're famous?!" Kyle's jaw dropped and face shocked, finally realizing what Vanessa and his mother had said earlier.

"You're just the cutest thing ever!" Vanessa laughed. "I guess you can say that." She shrugged.

"Wow!" Kyle exclaimed.

"But you wanna know a secret?" Vanessa whispered, crouching down to his level. Carol watched in amazement at how sweet and caring she was with Kyle. Kyle nodded his head excitedly.

"I still like being a normal girl better." She whispered and winked.

"Whoa!" Kyle exclaimed once more. Vanessa and Carol laughed.

"You so good with kids." Carol complimented.

"Thanks. I love kids." Vanessa said. "I've got a younger sister, but she's not that much younger, so we bond a lot. But spending time with the little ones is always a blast."

"Until they become a pain." Carol laughed, and looked at her watch. "Oh my, we've gotta go pick up your brother and sister now Kyle. It was nice to meet you." Carol shook Vanessa's hand once more.

"You too." Vanessa replied sweetly.

"Aww. But I wanna stay with Vanessa!" Kyle whined.

"You can't honey, she's a busy girl..." Carol began.

"But.." Kyle interfered, trying to find and excuse.

"Aww, I'd like to hang out with you more too, Kyle, but you've got to go pick up your brother and sister now." Vanessa said as his eyes started to tear up.

"But I like you!" He stomped his foot. Vanessa grinned. _Why is it easier for guys to say things like that when they're little? _She thought.

"Hmm, tell you what... You can come spend time with me some time while I'm here, and I'll if it's okay with your mom." Vanessa said.

"Really?" He asked hopefully, and Vanessa nodded her head. "Can she mommy?! Can she babysit me one day?!"

"I'm not sure." Carol said unsure. "I'm sure you have a busy schedule..."

"We only work until 5, sometimes earlier than that." Vanessa explained. "You could have the day off, and you don't have to worry about him. We've always got security with us, I bet there's one following me right now, so he'll be safe, or you can come along with your other children as well.." Vanessa assured her.

"Well, alright, if you say it's alright.." Carol caved.

"It's fine, trust me. Besides, I think your son here actually brightened up my day, so I would have to say that i definitely owe him." She smiled.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that. It'll give me some time to actually spend time with my other two kids." Carol smiled. Vanessa pulled out a piece of paper from her purse and wrote her number on it.

"Here you go, you can call whenever you'd like me to watch him." Vanessa said.

"Thank you so much, I think this really means a lot to him." Carol said as she watched her son jumping around happily.

"I can see that." Vanessa laughed.

"Alright, come on Kyle!" Carol called to him. "I'll see you soon Vanessa." Carol said.

"Bye Vanessa!" Kyle said waving.

"Alright. Bye!" Vanessa said before taking a seat on the swing again, kicking more sand, and looking at the flower Kyle had given her.

"Cute kid." Vanessa said, sitting back on the swing with her flower in hand. She sat there for a while, just staring out into space. Five minutes later, she was still caught in a deep thought.

"You know, if you wanna swing, you gotta give a good kick." A voice said from behind her. Vanessa quickly spun her head around to see who was talking to her. Zac stood a few yards away with his hands in the pockets of his khaki shorts, wearing a navy blue and white stripped polo, and sandals.

_Wow, Kyle was like his mini-me. _Vanessa thought and lightly laughed.

"What's so funny? It's true, you have to kick." Zac said, taking a seat in the swing next to her.

"Oh, uh, nothing. Your outfit just reminded me of something, that's all."

"I see." Zac nodded. "So... why are you out here? I thought you had dinner with Kevin?" He asked, lightly kicking off the ground to make him sway back a forth a little. Vanessa's eyes just followed Zac's swinging body.

"He and Karl left after practice. Something came up, so they left before all the others." She explained.

"Oh, I see." He nodded, halting himself from swinging any more.

"Yeah." She nodded. "I was gonna stop by so we could talk, but I figured you had other things planned since I said I would drop by later tonight."

"Well, I am one busy bee." He said sarcastically. "Just kidding. Nah, I was just watching some TV in my room. So what are you doing here at the park?"

"I don't know." Vanessa shrugged. "I just started walking and I ended up seeing that the park was empty, so I came to the swings." Zac just nodded.

"So, what are _you _doing here?" She asked.

"You make it sound like I'm not aloud to be here." He laughed.

"No." She laughed as well. "I didn't mean it like that.. I meant..."

"Chill, Ness. I know what you meant." He laughed some more. "Actually I'm always here. Kinda. This is where I usually go while all you guys are out or whatever."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I usually just come here, walk around and think. Stuff like that."

"Well, it's a pretty nice place to think. I think I've been here for like an hour or so." Vanessa said. Zac just nodded his head as silence fell between the two. Neither knew what to say.

"So.." Zac said just to break the silence.

"Why is it so weird between us now?" Vanessa asked quietly.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "But at least we're talking... I think."

"Well, we are talking right now, aren't we?" She laughed a little.

"Well, yeah, but I meant... nevermind. I'll just confuse myself." He stopped himself from continuing.

"It's fine, I get what you're saying."

"So.. are we friends?" He asked hopefully.

"I hope we are, but we both haven't been the best of friends towards each other lately." She began.

"Yeah... Like I said before, Ness, I'm sorry..." He cut her off.

"I should be apologizing too. I'm sorry, Zac. I haven't been that great of a friend either to you and the rest of the gang. I was trying to be a good girlfriend to Kev, and all the debut stuff, and..." She began to ramble.

_Girlfriend._ The word rang in Zac's head. _Once again, another reminder of why it's so hard. She's Kevin's, not mine._ He kicked himself mentally.

"I understand." He cut her off. "I haven't been so great to everyone either. I mean, not taking the time to spend time with everyone and all that.." He explained and Vanessa nodded her head.

"I know it's a corny question and all but, can we be best friends again?" She giggled.

"We never stopped." Zac grinned.

"Good." She smiled and quickly got up and threw her arms around Zac as he stood up seeing Vanessa practically jump into a hug. They held a tight embrace.

"I missed you, Zac." She said.

"Yeah, I missed you too, Ness." He said as they let go, and went back to their swings.

"So... Now that we're on good terms, tell me Zachary, what's wrong? And you can't deny it because I know you're hiding something, and it's bugging you like crazy!" Vanessa asked, twisting her swing to face him. Zac just stared at the ground, not saying a word.

"Are you dying?" Vanessa began to ask questions since he didn't answer.

"No, Ness, I'm not dying." He chuckled.

"Are you.. sick or something?"

"No, I'm pretty much healthy."

"Boy problems?" She eyed him.

"I guess you could say that." He shrugged.

"Is this about a girl?" She gave him a look.

"Uh..." He contemplated whether he should tell her or not.

"I'll take that as a yes." She laughed. _He likes someone? Who?! Well, she's a lucky gal. _Vanessa thought.

"Yes, it's about a girl. I'm only telling you this because we're best buds." He laughed.

"Damn right." She said proudly. "Hmm, let me guess.."

"Alright.."

"You like a girl, but she doesn't know. You wanna tell her, but you're afraid of how she'll act, and or you don't know how to tell her. And if you two are already friends, you're afraid that if you tell her, it might ruin your friendship and you end up with less than you already had." Vanessa said.

"Yep. You pretty much got down the major points." He nodded. _Plus she has a boyfriend, and oh, that girl is YOU!_ He thought.

"Am I genius or what?" Vanessa laughed.

"Am I that obvious?" He asked.

"No, well, kinda. I could just tell that you had a problem, but when I found out it was about a girl, that's just the usual case with a guy... Or every time a guy talked to me about it, it was." She explained.

"Oh." Zac said.

"So, care to talk about it?" She offered as Zac just shrugged.

"I don't know." He said plainly.

"Hm, do I know her?"

"A little too much." He laughed.

"Interesting..." She said, pretending to think while tapping her chin, suddenly stopping when a name popped into her mind. _Ashley?! Zac likes Ash? _Vanessa was caught up in her thoughts for a few minutes.

"Hey Ness!" Zac waved his hand in front of her face. He was now standing in front of her.

"Huh?" She looked at him.

"Wanna head back to the hotel? It's kinda getting late."

"Oh, um, sure." She said getting up and walking back to the hotel with him.

"So, did you eat yet?" He asked on their way back.

"No, not really." She shook her head.

"Wanna head back to my suite and order pizza like old times?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'd like that. Plus I'm starving. But I can't stay too long because we're having a girls' night tonight."

"No biggie. As long as I know you're not starving yourself or anything." He said.

"Trust me, food is another one of my best friends, and you know that. Anyways, you're coming with us tomorrow morning for breakfast right?" She looked at him.

"Why? What's happening?"

"Nothing. We're all just gonna go out for breakfast like we used to. So you have to be there! It's just the old gang together." She said as they stepped into the elevator of the hotel.

"Hmm, I don't know... I might not be awake.." He said hesitantly.

"I'll wake you up!" She said. "I'll be your personal alarm clock. Morning wakeup calls, whatever it takes." She laughed.

"Oh gosh. You plus a phone is nonsense." He joked. "I can't imagine a wake up call from you."

"Well, good for you. You're dreams will come true, because you're getting one. Please Zac!! Come to breakfast with us! Just like old times. Do it for me." She pleaded, giving him her best puppy dog face.

"Fine. Because I haven't hung out with everyone in a while, and because I'm still sorry." He said.

"YAY!" She cheered, wrapping him in another hug.

"What's will all these unexpected hugs?" He laughed as he hugged her back.

"I don't know. I guess it's because since we haven't hung out much, and I just missed it." She shrugged.

"Well, you give the best hugs then."

"Duh, no one else can give a Vanessa Hudgens Hug." She laughed.

"True."

"Plus, you're supposed to hug someone like it's the last time you're gonna see them. Just because life is unexpected."

"I never really thought of it like that." Zac said, sitting on the couch.

"Well, you should. It does make a difference, a huge difference in fact, when you think about it."

"That's kind of sad though in a way."

"Yeah, it is." She agreed. "but it's also good I guess." Suddenly her cell phone began to ring.

* * *

There you go! Hope you liked it. Review please! And thanks for all you faithful readers and reviewers. I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again, but I'm hoping soon. But school is getting crazier by the day and it's getting hard to get onto the computer. Plus I've got other issues to deal with. Soo, I'm hoping to update within the next week. Alright, ima go try and write as much as possible as i can right now, and who knows, that update might come sooner than expected. LOL. peace.


	27. take the plunge, take the plunge

Errr. I'm really bad with my updates now. But better than quiting on the story right? I hate how there isn't enough time these days to do everything. Well, Enjoy!

* * *

"Hello?" Vanessa answered her phone. Zac stayed silent, being respectful, but just looked at her.

"Hey Ness." Kevin said on the other end of the line.

"Oh, hey Kev." Vanessa greeted.

_Shot down, again. _Zac thought to himself and brought a pillow up to his face to cover it.

"So how was the drive?" Vanessa asked.

"It was good. No traffic, thank goodness." Kevin chuckled.

"That's good. So how is he?"

"We haven't seen him yet. He's already got visitors inside the room. You know how big our family is. So I'm just outside waiting, and getting some fresh air."

"I see." Vanessa nodded her head.

"So, did you talk to Zac yet? About what I said?" Kevin asked. Vanessa's eyes widened, as she turned to Zac. She saw that he had his face covered with a pillow, and grinned at how cute he looked... even with a pillow on his face.

"Uhh." Vanessa began.

"I'll take that as a no." Kevin laughed.

"Shutup." Vanessa said.

"Ness, you know you want to. We already talked about this. It's killing you that you two don't spend as much time together as you used to.." Kevin began.

"Yeah, yeah. I know, I know." Vanessa replied in her I-already-know voice.

"Hey, I'm just trying to help you out." Kevin defended.

"I know. That's why I love you so much." Vanessa said.

_I wished she loved me..._Zac thought under the pillow. He pulled the pillow off his eyes so he could stare at the ceiling, but kept the pillow covering the rest of his face.

"Exactly." Kevin laughed. "Well, I better get going, I think it's almost mine and Karl's turn to go see pops." Kevin said.

"Alright. Well, I'm only a call away if you need anything."

"Yeah. Thanks Ness."

"No problem."

"Well, I'll call you later or something then. And Ness, just tell him already."

"I will, when the time comes."

"That time passed a long time ago. You can see it in his eyes." Kevin said. Vanessa thought about it and he was right. She had to tell Zac soon, or else some other girl would get to him before she did.

"Uhm, yeah. Well, I'll talk to you later. I'm with Zac right now..." Vanessa began.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier!? Get off the phone and talk to the guy! Alright, I'll talk to you later bye." Kevin hung up before she could even say bye.

Vanessa looked over to Zac. From where she was sitting on the other couch, it still looked like Zac had his face fully covered.

_He better not be sleeping. _She grinned to herself as an idea popped into her head.

Zac didn't hear Vanessa hang up yet, so he just assumed she was listening to something Kevin was saying.

_He's probably declaring his love to her through a poem or something. _Zac thought, staring at the ceiling.

Vanessa quietly got off the couch, and walked closer to Zac's limp body laying on the other couch. Suddenly out of no where, Vanessa threw her body on top of Zac's and hugged him as best she could. On impulse, Zac put his hands on her sides, even though he didn't really know what was going on. Her head landed on the pillow, and luckily for Zac, she didn't knee him in a certain area. Her eyes ended up past the pillow, and she realized that the pillow wasn't covering Zac's whole face as her eyes met Zac's.

"Hi Zac." She said sheepishly into the pillow. Vanessa was blushing hard, realizing that Zac had his hands on her sides, but was happy Zac couldn't see since the pillow was in the way.

"Hey Ness." He said back into the pillow.

"You weren't sleeping were you?" Vanessa asked.

"Uhm, no. Just looking at the ceiling."

"Because?"

"I dunno." He shrugged which caused Vanessa to move a little. She gave a small laugh at the movement. "Comfortable much?" Zac raised an eyebrow, while his smile was hidden beneath the pillow.

"Yeah." She said softly. "And tired too." she added.

"Aww, poor Ness. Still hungry?" He asked in a baby voice.

"Not really." Vanessa answered back laying the side of her head back down on the pillow.

_Hopefully he'll get the idea that I like him..._ Vanessa thought as she closed her eyes.

"Uh.. Ness?" Zac asked.

"Hmm?" Vanessa replied, her eyes still closed.

"Uhh, I hate to ruin your comfort, but, some fresh air to breathe would be nice.." Zac gave a small chuckle under the pillow. Vanessa's eyes shot open as she lifted her head.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry Zac!"

"It's alright." Zac laughed as he took the pillow away from between them and tossed it onto the other couch. Vanessa smiled once more before laying her head on his chest. Zac's arms had naturally wrapped around her thin figure as if it were meant to be, and Vanessa was still holding onto him. They stayed like this for a few minutes in silence, enjoying each other's presence until Zac realized what was going on.

_Dude! She has a boyfriend! You can't do that to Kevin! _Zac thought.

"Uh, so how about that pizza?" Zac asked.

"I'm not really that hungry..." Vanessa replied. _Didn't I already say that? _She thought.

"Yeah well, Ash will kill me if she knew that you weren't eating and I was approving it." Zac said trying to reach for his phone.

"Fine, fine." Vanessa sighed. _I'm practically throwing myself at you Zac.. _She thought as she got up and sat on the other couch.

_Great way to ruin a moment Zac. _He thought, searching his pocket for his phone. He could find it so he got up to use the suite phone.

"Hello? Yes, I'll have my usual please. Thank you so much. Alright bye." He hung up.

"Your usual?" Vanessa gave him a look.

"I've ordered a lot of room service... a lot of pizza to be exact." Zac said.

"Oh." Vanessa nodded, as they fell into silence.

_Maybe he doesn't feel the same way... _Vanessa stared out into space.

_Everything would be perfect if she wasn't with Kevin._ Zac thought.

"Zac, we need to talk." Vanessa said suddenly.

"Um, okay..." He nodded.

"Uhm.." Vanessa began, fumbling with her fingers.

"Is everything okay Ness?" Zac gave her a look of concern.

"Yeah.." She said quickly. _Come on Vanessa, Kevin said he should be your escort... You like him. You'll get to spend more time with him..._Her thoughts went on.

"Ugh, why is this so hard?" She mumbled.

"Why is what so hard?" Zac looked at her funny. "I only asked if you were okay.." He trailed off.

"Oh, um, nothing. I was just talking to myself." Vanessa blushed.

"Are you sure nothings wrong?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Why would you think something was?" She asked curiously.

Zac wasn't sure of how to answer her. He wanted to flat out tell her that it was kind of weird, with what just happened, but he didn't want to sound harsh.

"Well, um, you know. What just happened... When you were laying on me, even if the pillow was in between us most of the time. I mean, you're with Kevin, Ness. I can't do that to him." He said.

_Maybe he doesn't feel the same way... _She thought. _Maybe I shouldn't ask him to be my escort. _

"Oh, yeah, um sorry." Vanessa gave a small smile. "I kind just wanted to see if you were awake, and got too lazy to get up ." She kinda lied.

"Its okay." He said.

_Wait, but he didn't complain. _Vanessa thought hopefully.

"I just wanted to make sure." Zac added, noticing something was bugging her. He could see it on her face.

"Alright Ness, spill." Zac demanded.

"Huh? What?" Vanessa snapped out of her thoughts.

"Miss Vanessa Anne Hudgens, I know something is bothering you, so spill. I don't want to end up fighting and all that again like last time. Except for it was me who was hiding from things, and not you. So it's like opposite this time. But you're me and--" Zac began to ramble without realizing it. Vanessa couldn't help but giggle.

"Okay, okay. Chill Zac, I get your point." She cut him off. "I don't want that happening again either."

"Then why don't you just tell me what's wrong?" He asked.

"It's.." She began, but paused and sighed. "It's complicated."

"Let me guess. Girl problems that you only talk to girls about." Zac said.

"Yeah, pretty much." Vanessa answered.

It was quiet after that. Vanessa looked down at her feet, while Zac was looking down playing with his hands.

_Alright Zac, just take the plunge, take the plunge. Tell her now before you lose the courage. Just forget about all the other guys and all that. Tell her how you feel! _Zac thought to him self.

_I need to tell him. Kevin said I should, and that's an outsider's opinion, so it should be a good thing. I like him. No, I love this guy. Okay, I need to stop thinking to myself and tell him already. Wait, why is it so quiet? _Vanessa thought.

"I need to tell you something." They both said in unison, as they both shot up out of their seats.

"Okay, um you first." Zac said.

"Alright.." Vanessa said slowly. _Just say it. Tell him you love him. _

"Uhh. Kevin thought you should take his place and be my escort instead." Vanessa said quickly. _No! Wrong words! But yeah, I needed to tell him that too. But damnit. I had the chance! _Vanessa kicked herself mentally.

"What?" Zac asked confused.

"Kevin and I were talking today during rehearsal, and he told me that he wanted you to be my escort." She looked at her hands and began playing with a ring on her finger.

"But I don't get it." Zac stated. Still confused.

"He thought you should be my escort so that we could spend more time together to work things out between us and I guess catch up on lost time." She explained half of it.

"Really?" Zac looked at her and she nodded. "But what about him?"

"He'd be Julia's partner. It wouldn't really make much of a difference since the dances are the same, but the formations are the only difference." Vanessa said nervously.

"Oh." Zac nodded.

"You don't have to be. Kevin just wanted me to tell you." Vanessa said shyly.

"Uh," Zac scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, I guess that would be cool." Zac smiled. _YES! _He thought.

"Really?" Vanessa smiled.

"Well, yeah. I mean we do have to make up for lost time. Plus, I liked the white tux better." Zac laughed.

"You loser. Anyways, don't tell anyone yet though. I'll tell everyone about the changes." Vanessa said. "So, you're turn."

"Huh?" Zac asked.

"You had to tell me something." Vanessa said slowly to remind him.

"Oh. Right." Zac chuckled. "Uh, well, I'm not sure how to say this, but I..." Zac began but was cut off by Vanessa's phone ringing.

_I swear, that phone has really bad timing. _He thought.

"Err, sorry, hold on." Vanessa scrambled to get her phone off the table.

"Hello?" She spoke into the phone.

"Nessa! Where are you? We've been knocking on your room for like an hour now! We thought you'd be back from your dinner with Kev." Ashley yelled.

"Oh. Uh, I'm not in there." Vanessa answered. "And Kev and I decided to cancel our dinner."

"Oh." Ashley said. "Well, all the girls are here in the suite."

"Oh my gosh." Vanessa clasped her hand over her forehead. "The girls night. I'm so sorry Ash, that slipped my mind."

"It's okay, we just started getting worried that something was wrong since you weren't opening your door."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Vanessa scratched her head.

"Anyways, get your butt over here ASAP! It's almost 9 and the night is drifting away..." Ashley exaggerated.

"Alright, alright, I'll be there in a minute." Vanessa said.

"Mmkay, toodles!" Ashley said before hanging up quickly.

"Err, Ash wants me back in the room. She says 'the night is drifting away' since I forgot we were having a girls night." Vanessa explained.

"Oh, it's cool. You should get going then before Ash bites your head off." Zac joked, stuffing his hands in his pokets.

"But what about you? You had something to say too..." Vanessa started.

"Um, it's okay. I'll tell you another time." Zac said looking down.

"Are you sure? I've got all night with the girls, a few more minutes wouldn't kill." Vanessa tried.

"Yeah, it's cool. I just think another time would be better. If I told you now, it would only make things complicated." He tried to explain.

"Okay, fine." Vanessa caved, seeing that Zac really thought another time would be more convenient. "But you have to promise you'll tell me." She stuck out her pinky towards him. Zac looked up and couldn't help but grin at how childish a pinky promise was.

"Promise." Zac said, hooking his pinky onto hers.

"You have to kiss it! Don't you know the rules?!" Vanessa exclaimed.

"What? Since when did you have to kiss it?" Zac gave her a weird look.

"I dunno. That's how we always did it when I was little." Vanessa shrugged.

"You're weird. Me and my friends never did it like that." Zac said while trying to think back to his childhood days.

"Whatever. You're the one promising me, so you have to kiss it."

"So does that mean, if you were the one promising me, you would have to do it how I'm used to doing it?" Zac asked confused.

"I don't know." she shook her head laughing.

"We definitely need to find our own way of doing this." Zac said.

"Yeah, yeah. You still haven't made your promise."

"What? I already said I promised, didn't I?" Zac asked.

"Yes. But you never kissed it! Don't ask me why we did it like that when I was little, we just did." Vanessa said.

"Fine. But you had one weird childhood." He joked and kissed their pinkies that were still hooked together..

"Hey! I bet you did some weird things when you were little too!" Vanessa said ask they unhooked their fingers.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Well, anyways, I guess I should get going." She said.

"Yep. Ash is probably wondering where you are." Zac said walking her to the door.

"Not really. But who knows, it's Ash we're talking about." She laughed.

"True."

"Anywhoo. Thanks, Zac." Vanessa flung her arms around her head. "It's good to know that you're mine." Vanessa said softly over her shoulder.

"What?" Zac asked.

"I mean, my best friend. It's good to know that your my best friend again." Vanessa explained. As they let go.

"Yeah, you too Ness, and your're welcome." Zac smiled.

"Well, I need to get going." Vanessa said, backing out of the doorway, walking backwards.

"Don't get lost now." Zac laughed.

"Yeah right. I'm right next door you loser. Vanessa as she started to turn.

"Uh, Ness, your suite is the other way." Zac chuckled, and pointed to the door the opposite direction she was facing.

"Um, right. Sorry. I'm used to walking this way when I come out of Kev's and Karl's room." Vanessa made up an excuse, when she really wasn't paying attention.

"Right..." Zac laughed.

"Whatever. Night Zac! See you in the morning! Don't forget about breakfast." She smiled and walked to hers and Ashley's suite.

"Night, Ness." Zac said as she walked inside before disappearing behind his door.

* * *

Haha. Sorry. I liked this chapter just cuz of my stupid humor. LOL! Well, as you all know, I'm not so steady on my updating as I used to be, so I dunno when to say the next update will be. ALSO, BIG NEWS for all of you who love my stories... I'm not sure if I'll be returning to fanfiction after I finish this story. I guess you can call it a retirement. haha. but yeah, i'm not sure yet thought. Soo, review please. tell me what you think. & thank you to those of you who are patiently waiting for every update I make. I'm sorry about my timing and all. OH, and I think ima make it so theres only 2 more chapters left.. hopefully they'll be long ones though. haha. well yeah, review please!


	28. The moment you've all been waiting for

Okay. Well after this, theres only ONE more chapter to go. Sadly, yes it's true. But this one is SUPER long, so I suggest to put some time aside to read it, unless your a really fast reader. Anyways, The beginning are journal entries. I did this to speed things up. So yeah, then it'll flow into the debut. I left some notes in the chapter to clarify some things, so please don't skip over them. Alright, Well, PLEASE _

* * *

_

_Alright. Where do I begin? Well, first off, I gotta thank Stella for this diary. She bought me this 2-pack of journals so I could jot down things that happen in my life and so on since she considers me to be forgetful at times. And I can't blame her for her reasons. She knows me too well. But she also bought another one and gave it to Zac as a late birthday present to him. Why? I'm not sure. Maybe she thought He would like to write down the things happening to him as well. Anyways, now that I've got that out of the way, I don't know where to go from here. Haha. I feel pathetic. This is a diary, it shouldn't matter, right? Hmm, maybe I'll just explain what's been going on lately._

_No one really has any idea that Kevin and I have been broken up. Which is kinda weird, but I guess things have been getting too busy to even notice I suppose. Kev and Karl have been going home right after rehearsals on Fridays to visit their Grandfather. They say he keeps getting better, but suddenly it would fall back down to where in the beginning. I pray he gets better. Zac and Kev had also made the switch of being my escort. I explained to the girls that Kev wanted to, so that Zac and I could fix our friendship, so I'm assuming that they told the guys since no one really asked any questions. Since Kev and Karl go away on the weekends, Zac and I have been practicing the dances more at the park so that we could get used to dancing with each other. I've been "babysitting" Kyle a few times to help his mom out, but it doesn't ever feel like babysitting. He's such a cutie. I've taken him on set with his brother and sister a few times, but we're usually at the park, and he watches me and Zac dance. It's so cute because he tries to copy the dances Zac and I do, but by himself. He's pretty good at it too for his age with such a difficult dance. I invited his family to the debut and they've agreed to come. They're so sweet. I just realized Zac's name is written in this entry a lot. Haha. I guess it's a good thing since it shows that we're spending more time together and getting our friendship back on track._

_The debut is only 2 weeks away. I'm so excited and nervous. We have this week off, so everyone is gonna head back home. I have to go to the studio to lay some new tracks down, as well as get a few photoshoots in, promotions, etc. You get the point, I'm living the busy life. It sucks because no one is gonna be with me this whole week, but I guess it's alright. It's all part of life, plus there's always the phone to talk on. Haha. Well, I think I'll end this here. I didn't expect to write as much as I did, but oh well, it's getting late. So later._

_The Little Mermaid. Haha. Just kidding. _

_Vanessa._

_Dear Diary.

* * *

_

_Ew. That sounded like a girl._

_Dear Journal._

_No. That doesn't sound like me._

_What up? Yeah. That's more I like it. Anywhoo. Stella gave this to me as a birthday present. Or well, there's another journal since it came in a pack of two, but she also gave me this nice sweater that I like. Haha. Apparent;y many people think I look good in those sweaters since I got quite a few for my birthday. Especially from mom. Oh well, I like them. Moving on to a much more journal-worthy topic, Ness and I are on pretty good terms now. It's not exactly where I dreamed we would be, but I'll take it... for now. I can't complain. We've been able to talk everyday which is pretty good. It just shows that we've been hanging out more._

_Speaking of hanging out, I've met a cool dude recently. Or well, he's a little dude, but yeah. I "help" Ness babysit Kyle. But in reality it's more like teaching Kyle the dances for the debut without really teaching him. He just watches and imitates us. Haha. He's really cool for a kid his age. Which reminds me I've got to call his mom to ask her something..._

_So anyways, we've got this coming week off. I'm heading home with everyone else, except Nessa of course since she's got other things to do. We're setting up the recording stuff at my place for the video. We're basically recording the whole week, trying to get as much of her family and friends into the "longer" version. But I think the "short" version that we'll be showing at the actual party will just be us and her family. Something like that. We're not totally sure yet. So yeah, recording all week. I'm not sure what to say still. I've got an idea, but still not sure. Hmm. Her parents and Stella, my parents and Dylan, Ash, Falisha, and Jayden are coming over for dinner the night before we head back to set so that the family can record stuff. But I think Stella wanted to come over so she could record some stuff early, so I have to pick her up on the second day, have her record her stuff, and then she'll be riding with me when all of us go shopping for the small "presents" that make a "big" present. Haha. It all sounds complicated, but really I think it's easier than it sounds. Then on the third day home, I've got some stuff to do.. and the other days, well, I just left empty since i know something will come up. _

_Wow, I've written a lot. I feel soo, feminine. But then again, I bet so many people would argue that it's not just a woman's thing to write in a diary. Or journal. Whatever you want to call it. But honestly, I can't say it feels so manly. Haha, that sounds so dorky so I'll just say that it's okay for me to write in a journal as well as any other guy. Which doesn't make since because no other guy is going to be reading this... Okay, I just need to stop. I'm arguing with myself about nothing and everything. Haha. And this is really long its scary. I think I should end this... here. _

_Boomshakalaka._

_Zac.

* * *

_

"See you later Ness." Ashley hugged her close friend.

"Bye Ash." Vanessa hugged her tightly.

"You better be good." Zac pointed his finger at her in a fatherly manner.

"Don't worry, it's all party for me." Vanessa said sarcastically.

"Nope, you can't because we're not going to be there and it wouldn't be fair. Plus, you have work to do." Zac laughed.

"Yeah, yeah. I know, you don't have to rub it in." Vanessa said.

"I was just messing around." He chuckled, and engulfed her into a hug. "You'll be fine. It's not like you sidekick never leaves your side anyways."

"Hence the name sidekick." Vanessa laughed and hugged him.

"I thought I was your sidekick." Zac laughed.

"Of course. You're my number one sidekick. But my phone, well that's just another story. It's like my second voice." Vanessa replied.

"Maybe, but it can't sing. Anyways, we've gotta get going. We all have a bunch to do as well." Zac said, still hugging her.

"Yeah." Vanessa sighed. "Well. I'll miss you guys."

"Ditto." Zac said before breaking the embrace.

"Yeah, Ness, you know I'll miss you." Ashley said hugging her again. Everyone else had said their goodbyes earlier, and headed out. Zac and Ashley were the last to leave since they were driving home together.

"Don't worry, it's only a week. You'll live." Zac grinned, giving her another hug as well.

"Yeah, I know. I'm just worried that you guys won't last without me." Vanessa joked as she hugged him tightly.

"Well, we better get going Zac. We've got _a lot _to get done." Ashley emphasized.

"Right." Zac nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. Vanessa just took it as that they had a lot of plans to attend to with their families and such.

"Yeah. You guys should get going and dodge the traffic. Stop by and say hi to Stella and my parents will you?" Vanessa asked.

"No problem. I gotta thank Stella personally for my gift anyways. She said I had to in her birthday card to me." Zac chuckled.

"Thanks."

"Bye Ness." Ashley and Zac said, getting into their car. "I'll call you later!" Ashley called to her.

"Yeah. Me too!" Zac added.

"I'll be waiting then." Vanessa smiled, as she was getting into her car that was taking her to her photoshoot. "Bye guys!" She waved before closing the door shut, signaling her driver to get going.

Ashley let out a sigh as their driver Bryan began to pull out as well.

"You ready for a hectic week?" She asked.

"I don't think it'll be that bad. I think it's gonna be kinda fun." Zac shrugged.

"I think I'd freak if I were letting everyone film in my house."

"Yeah, well, I don't mind. It's for Ness, and it needs to be done."

"Yeah, you're right." Ashley nodded, leaning her head against the headrest. "So, have you decided what you're gonna say for your speech?"

"Which one? The video one, or the one at the party?" Zac asked.

"Both."

"Nope." He shook his head. "You?"

"I've got tons to say, but I'm just not sure what to say. I want to say so much, but I know I can't." Ashley explained. Zac nodded his head understandingly.

"So how are things with you and Ness going anyways?" Ashley asked. "We all haven't really had the time to hang out together much and just _talk._"

"We're good. I mean I guess you can tell. But we're just making up for old times." Zac assured her.

"Well that's good." Ashley said. The rest of the ride home, the two were asking each other what to get Vanessa as an individual gift from each of them, what to say for their speech during the party, as well as on their video speech, all the way until they were almost home.

"Hey Bry! You think you can drop me off at Vanessa's house?" Zac asked out of the blue.

"Yeah, no problemo." Bryan replied.

"Ness' house? Why are you going there if she's not there?" Ashley asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"Gotta say thanks to Stella. Plus I gotta talk to her parents about something I forgot to tell them about the recording and stuff."

"Oh."

"Yeah, so I'm just gonna get dropped off there. It's not like I live that far anyways, it's still walking distance." Zac said.

"What about your bags?" Ashley asked.

"I've only got one, Ash. You're the one with bags." Zac laughed. "Besides it's a duffel anyways, and I don't have much in it since I was planning on bringing more clothes back with me. I'm getting tired of wearing the same stuff over and over."

"You know, that's not a bad idea." Ashley nodded, beginning to think of what clothes to bring back to the hotel.

"Well, we're here Zac!" Bryan said from the drivers seat, getting out to retrieve Zac's bag from the back.

"It's cool Bry, I got it." Zac said, letting himself out and grabbing his bag as Bryan opened the back of the SUV.

"Should I wait in case they're not home?" Bryan asked. Zac turned and looked up at the house.

"Nah, I can see Stella's room light on, they're home." Zac assured him.

"Alright, well, just call if you need anything." Bryan said.

"Thanks Bry! And don't forget, you're gonna be recording something for Nessa too!" Zac reminded him.

"How could I forget? I'm driving half of the people to your place." Bryan chuckled.

"Right. Well I'll see you then. See you tomorrow Ash." Zac waved.

"See ya!" Ashley waved and closed the door as Bryan got back into the driver's seat. As they pulled out, Bryan honked the horn and waved his arm out the window, and Zac waved before turning to the Hudgens' house.

He walked up to the house with his duffel draped over his shoulder. Once he got to the door he rang the doorbell and waited. Gina opened the door with a smile on her face, wearing her apron.

"Zac! How are you?" She asked, gesturing him to come inside.

"Hey Mrs. Hudgens. I'm good. I hope I'm not interrupting anything..." Zac began.

"Oh hush. You're always welcome here anytime! And how many times do I tell you, call me Gina, sweetie." Gina implied.

"Thanks." Zac smiled.

"I was just cooking dinner. You should stay! I know you haven't had a home cooked meal in a long time." Gina insisted.

"Sure, I'd love to. Thank you." Zac smiled. "And I love your cooking."

"Thank you!" Gina beamed.

"Is Stella around? I wanna thank her for my birthday gift." Zac asked.

"Oh, yeah. She's up in her room on the computer I think. Go on up. I'll call you guys when dinner is ready." Gina said. Zac nodded and walked upstairs towards Stella's room. Zac smiled as he saw Vanessa's room. He quietly opened the door to Vanessa's room and peeked his head in. _Just like her. _Zac thought, but was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard someone behind him.

"Uh, mom, there's someone looking into Sissy's room..." Stella said, confused, and unsure of who the person was. Zac smiled and closed the door, and turned around.

"Zac!" Stella screamed.

"Geez, you make me sound like a stalker." Zac laughed and picked her up into a hug.

"Well I'm not the one snooping around other people's houses. Let alone, my older sister's room." Stella gave him a look as he put her down.

"I was just seeing if I left my sunglasses here the last time I was here. I remember putting them down on her desk..." Zac tried to cover.

"Well, I haven't seen them." Stella shrugged, believing him. "Come on in." She said, walking into her bedroom. Zac followed her into her bedroom as she took a seat at her desk and continued as she was before on her computer. Zac smiled and took a seat on her floor, leaning against her bed frame.

"So, what brings you here?" She asked, as she typed away on her keyboard.

"I just thought I'd stop by and say hi. And say thank you for my gifts."

"Oh. Well, you're welcome." Stella smiled as she turned to face him, then turned back to her computer and kept typing.

"Yeah, and I wanted to remind you and your parents that I'm gonna be picking you up tomorrow morning." Zac added.

"Why? What's tomorrow?" Stella asked, her eyes still glued to the screen.

"Well, you said you wanted to record some stuff ahead of time. And after that we're all gonna go shopping for Nessa's gift. But if you don't want to, that's fine too." He shrugged.

"No! It's perfect! I still need to finish buying her gifts anyways. Plus, yeah, I do want to record some stuff for the video early since I don't really know what to say." She answered without facing him.

"Alright, I'll pick you up in the morning then."

"Okay."

"What are you doing anyways? Your eyes are like attached to the screen." Zac laughed.

"Well, one, I'm doing my homework because I haven't been doing it. And two, I'm talking to Nessa." She said, as she laughed.

"Really?" Zac laughed. "Let me guess, she's on her sidekick?"

"Yep. When is she never?" Stella said sarcastically.

"Did you tell her I was here?" He asked.

"Nope."

"Good! Let me talk to her, but don't let her know you let me on."

"Okay." Stella laughed, and got off the chair to let Zac sit, standing behind him to watch.

"Nessa123: I'm so bored. Everyone is gone."

"She's been saying that over and over. I think she misses you guys." Stella laughed.

"I think I can tell."

(a/n: HAHA, I know these are stupid screen names, but I didn't want to make anything complicated.)

"Stella456:You've already said that so many times." Zac typed.

"Nessa123: Yeah, but still, I'm bored and there's no one to hang out with."

"Stella456: I see." Zac laughed. He typed properly, while he knew Stella never capitalized. He was surprised Vanessa hadn't noticed.

"Stella456: Why don't you go practice for your debut?" Zac typed, imagining her reaction.

"Nessa123: Uh, hello! Zac isn't here. If he was, then I would." Zac couldn't help but smile.

"Stella456: Ohh, so you miss Zac huh?" Zac started to crack up along with Stella.

"Here, let me back on. I wanna talk now." Stella said. Zac just laughed and nodded, getting up.

"Nessa123: Yeah, so."

"Stella456: haha"

"Can I tell her you're here?" Stella asked.

" Yeah, sure." Zac agreed

"Nessa123: What's so funny about that?"

"Stella456: well, you shouldn't miss him too much. you were just talking to him."

"Nessa123: What do you mean?"

"Stella456: Zac's here. I let him on my sn really quick. haha."

"Nessa123: You liar."

"Stella456: Nope."

"Nessa123 has signed off." Zac and Stella read on the screen.

"That's weird. Why'd she sign off?" Stella asked.

"I don't know." Zac shrugged. Suddenly Zac's cell phone began to ring.

"Haha. What a loser." Stella laughed, knowing that it was Vanessa calling.

"Hello?" Zac answered, signaling Stella to be super quiet.

"Zac, are you with Stella?" Vanessa asked.

"Ouch. No hello?" Zac asked.

"Hello Zac!" She said cheerfully.

"Hello Vanessa!" He mocked.

"Are you?"

"Why, would that be bad?" He asked.

"No. Just wondering if Stella was lying or not." Vanessa answered.

"Well, in that case, yes I am at your house. I just stopped by to say thanks to Stella here, and your mom insisted I stay for dinner." Zac explained.

"You're staying for dinner?" Stella asked.

"Yeah." Zac answered her. "See, is that enough proof that I'm at your house? You can hear Stella talking to me." He laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, I believe you. So what are you guys up to?" Vanessa asked curiously.

"Well, we're opening your birthday presents. Seeing if _we_ like them, and if we do, then we're gonna keep them." Zac said. "Right Stella?"

"Yep." She answered.

"How mean!" Vanessa pouted over the phone.

"I'm kidding Ness! Chill. Nah, We're just hanging out until dinner is ready. So we're just talking about our plans for the week."

"Stella, Zac, dinner is ready." Gina popped her head into the room.

"Alright." Stella said getting up.

"Hey, Ness, your mom said dinner is ready. I'll talk to you later, alright?" Zac spoke.

"Wait! Let me say by to Stella and say hi to my mom." Vanessa demanded.

"Alright." Zac chuckled. "Want me to put you on speaker?"

"Nah, let me say bye to Stella, then let me talk to my mom really quick, please?" Vanessa asked.

"Okie dokes. Hold on." Zac said, plying his phone from his ear, and handing it over to Stella. "She wants to say bye to you. Stella said goodbye to her sister over the phone, and laughed before handing it over to her mother.

"Nessa misses you, and wants to talk to you mom." Stella handed her the phone.

"Hey mom!" Vanessa said excitedly.

"Hey sweetie! How was your day?" Gina asked.

"It's been good. Really busy, but still good. How about you, how are you and dad?" Vanessa asked.

"Your dad and I are fine. We both miss you a lot." Gina said.

"I miss you both too! Well, I let you guys get to dinner, I gotta get back to work anyways. I'll call you guys tomorrow." Vanessa sighed.

"Alright. Be good hun. Love you!"

"Love you too mom. Tell dad the same. Can I say bye to Zac? Oh, and make sure he behaves in the house..." She said motherly.

"Okay." Gina laughed. "And he's always a gentleman. Bye sweetie." Gina smiled before handing Zac his phone back before walking back downstairs

"What did you say about me? Because I know your mom was calling me a gentleman." Zac joked.

"Nothing." Vanessa said innocently.

"Right. I'm having a hard time believing that. But too bad for you, your mom loves me."

"Yeah. Well, she loves me too, so hah!" Vanessa exclaimed.

"That just makes us even." Zac laughed.

"Yeah. I know. Well, I gotta go, and you should go eat my mom's cooking since I can't." She laughed. "I just wanted to say bye to you."

"Aww. You cared enough to say bye to me too!" Zac cooed.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I? Well, I really need to get back to work. Bye Zac!"

"Alright, well, I'll call you later tonight then. Or you can call me whenever you're not busy."

"Okay. Sounds good. Bye!"

"Later Ness." Zac said, hanging up his phone as he walked down the stairs.

Zac joined Stella at the table as Gina was putting the food at the table. Zac offered to help, but Gina refused because he was a guest. Greg later came to the table from his office after finishing up a few things. The four had dinner together, after they finished Stella ran back up to her room to finish her homework. Zac had stayed in the kitchen with Gina and Greg, helping them clean up, and talking.

"I was wondering if I could have someone special perform something at the debut. He asked me personally if he could, and I told him I'd check with you guys first." Zac said, leaning against the counter, they had finished cleaning the kitchen.

"Yeah, sure. I don't see why there would be any problem with that." Greg nodded.

"Yeah. As long as you think Vanessa will like it." Gina smiled. "Who is it anyways?"

"Oh, well, you guys haven't met him before. And I'm supposed to keep it a surprise. But trust me, he's pretty awesome." Zac smiled.

"Alright then. We can put him in after your live speech since your the last one to make one. Then after that, I believe your guys' gift ceremony for is will be after that." Greg explained.

"Sounds good." Zac nodded. "So, you guys and Stella, are making the speeches first, then the court, right?" Zac asked and Gina nodded.

"I can't wait!" Gina said excitedly, and Zac and Greg laughed.

"Well, I better get going." Zac began.

"You're not walking are you?!" Gina said suddenly.

"Uhm, yeah.." Zac said slowly. "I don't live that far, remember?"

"It's late, Zac!" Gina looked at him.

"She's right. Plus your things are here. I'll drive you." Greg said. "We don't want anything happening to you out there. There's crazy people these days."

"Thanks. Zac nodded.

"Let me get my keys." Greg said.

"I'll go say goodnight to Stella and remind her about tomorrow." Zac said running up the stairs quickly. He said goodbye to Stella and told her he'd see her tomorrow.

"Bye Gina." Zac hugged her. "Thank you for the dinner, it was delicious. I'll see you tomorrow morning." Zac smiled before walking out the door.

"Thanks. Goodnight Zac!" Gina smiled. Greg drove Zac home a few blocks away. They said there goodbyes, and Zac made his way into his apartment, plopping down onto his bed.

* * *

(A/N: Okay, this next part is gonna start in the middle of Stella's video speech. But it's gonna go from her recording it, to it playing at the actual debut itself, so don't think that she's still at Zac's apartment recording it. I'm just gonna have the video playing at the beginning of the debut as entertainment before Vanessa makes her entrance. I thought it would be too much if I went through the week, knowing all the fluff I put in.) 

The next morning Zac picked up Stella so she could record part of her video speech. Stella sat down in front of the black drapes, and recorded.

"...you've been the best sister I could ever ask for." Stella spoke, looking directly at the camera. Everyone, sitting at the tables in the hall let out an 'aww'. "But then again, you're the only sister I have." She laughed on the screen, as well as everyone else at the party. "You've always been there for me, and I'll always be there for you; through thick and thin. Happy 18th Birhtday Vanessa. Love you!" Stella waved to the camera as her face faded from the screen. Gina's and Greg's video speeches played as well. Vanessa had only seen those three the night before. They had decided to play the court's video speeches as they entered the hall. Since Vanessa was the last to enter the hall, she wouldn't be able to see the screen inside the hall, so they had set up a TV outside the doors to enter, with the same thing playing on the screen so she could watch as well.

The gang and the rest of the court were all lined up with their partners outside the doors, excited. Zac laughed at Vanessa as she was shaking.

"Hey Ness. Chill. You've done concerts with thousands of people watching you." Zac assured her.

"I know. I'm excited about it because it's my birthday, but then I'm nervous I'll fall flat on my face walking out there, or during the dances." She said, as he arm was linked to his.

"Trust me, we have all of this down. We know it by heart, so you can't mess up. It should be natural to you by now. Plus, if you do, who cares, it's your party." Zac smiled, which she returned. Then the music began to play as the emcee began to calm everyone inside down so he could introduce everyone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to our first couple on the court: Ashley and Karl!" The emcee boomed. (a/n: Sorry if any of the couples are different. I don't really remember who, or if, I put anyone else in particular together other than Zac, Vanessa, Kevin, and Julia. But just flow with me.. haha.) Ashley's and Karl's videos began to play. (a/n: I'll just give little parts of them.)

"... there's so much more I could say. But I know that would take ages." Ashley said happily, Vanessa watching the TV screen behind the doors along with everyone else. Vanessa gave a small laugh. "I'm so lucky to have you as a best friend! You're one of the sweetest people I know, and I love you so much! Happy 18th birthday!" Ashley's video finished.

"...You know, it's kinda weird how much we've gone through. I've seen you go from just being one of us normal kids from the block to... well.. a normal kid from the block who just happened to become one of the most famous people in the world!" Karl laughed. Vanessa laughed, watching the screen, understanding his humor. "But that's alright, you still haven't changed which is great about you. I could come to you about anything and everything. Even if I am a guy. You're one of the listeners, and I'm thankful for that. Hopefully-- wait no. I KNOW we'll stay friends for a long time. Happy birthday Nessa!" Karl finished.

"And next, we have...Marc and Jen." The emcee said. (a/n: okay, I'm just gonna do some of the speeches. Hahaha. There's way too many!.) The emcee had gone through all of the couples, except Zac and Vanessa, and Corbin and Tin.

"Next up, Corbin and Tin." the emcee said as Monique's and Chris' speeches finished.

"... you know, I really should be thanking all the big peeps from HSM. Without them, I probably would have never met you. Which would be a bad thing. You're like the little sister I never had. I just want you to know that I'm always here for you no matter what. Plus, if you ever need anyone to go get food with, I'm your man!" Corbin laughed. "Happy 18th birthday Vanessa." Corbin shot a smile, waving to the camera. Vanessa and Zac were standing behind the door now, arms still linked. Vanessa eyes were tearing up over the sweet messages from her friends as she finished watching Corbin's. She gave a small chuckle as Corbin was still on the screen.

"Hey, are you guys still recording?" Corbin said, leaning towards the camera. "I'm done you guys..." Corbin said, as he reached to tap the camera, then his face faded out.

"Typical Corbin." Zac laughed, remembering watching Corbin during his recording.

"Yeah." Vanessa giggled.

"So you ready?" Zac whispered, standing straight. Vanessa clung onto his arm tighter, her nerves getting to her again.

"I guess that answers that." Zac laughed as he heard the emcee giving the big introduction.

"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for..." The emcee announced. The gang had taken their places in a semi-circle on the dance floor, arms hooked together, beaming, waiting for Vanessa and Zac to come out. "I'd like to introduce you all to the honorary birthday girl herself, Miss Vanessa Hudgens, escorted by Mr. Zac Efron!" The emcee boomed, pointing towards the tall oak doors.

* * *

Long huh? HAHA. Well, yeah, that's it until the last chapter. I'm still not sure if I'm gonna be coming back to fanfiction after I finish this story, unless I get a really good feedback on these last two final chapters. So how'd you guys like it? HAHA. I'm finally at the debut part. LOL. But no worries. I'll gaurantee you guys are gonna love the last chapter. Anyways, REVIEW PLEASE it means a lot to me, considering this may be my last story. Haha, I realized that this whole story, including this chapter is 150+ pages with normal font. HAHA. THATS CRAZY! that's like a freakin novel already. lol. but that's pretty cool. Alright, well, I'll update soon hopefully. I'm halfway done with the last chapter. Haha. It's super long though. anyways, get to those reviews! Thanks! Byeee. 


	29. This much I know is true

Well, it's the last chapter sadly. Haha. Well, I know you all are dying to read it, soo, ENJOY!

* * *

Vanessa and Zac appeared, smiling bigger than ever. Zac was his white penguin tuxedo, white gloves, shirt, shoes, and a gold vest and tie. Vanessa was wearing a lovely, full length, gold halter dress. It was pretty simple, but she made it look so much more than that. Her hair was up in a neat bun, with her bangs hanging to its usual side and some curls hanging out. Her make-up was done so well, it looked like she wasn't wearing any. Truth was, she barely had any on. The two slowly walked out, rounding the whole dance floor as everyone stood clapping. The clapping soon stopped just as Zac's video speech began to play. By this time, Zac and Vanessa had reached the middle of the semi-circle, completing the arch, and turned towards the screen to watch the video. 

"Hey Hudgens!" Zac smiled into the screen. Vanessa laughed at this since she and Zac would always call each other by their last names. "Well, to be honest, I haven't prepared for this speech." Zac said honestly. "And knowing that this is going to be playing at your party, you're most likely standing next to me, laughing at me." Zac chuckled on screen, as well as off as he watched himself. He turned to Vanessa, and saw her giggling, shaking her head. "Well, of course, I want to wish you a happy 18th birthday. I _know _this will probably be one of the best days of your life.. or the worst." He joked. "I really have so much to thank you for." Everyone was watching attentively. No one had _ever _seen this, except for the editor who never paid attention anyways, because Zac was the very last to record his. "You're one of the most sweetest, caring and loving, outgoing, person I know. And that's just to name a few. You're my best friend. I know we've been through rough times, but we've got our good times as well. You're the person I always want to turn to, or just talk to for fun."

* * *

_Flashback._

Kevin and Karl were at Zac's apartment, finishing their recordings. They were the last two before Zac since their grandfather was in the hospital. Ashley was there helping out, so she was talking to Karl and Zac while they waited for Kevin to finish. Kevin finally finished and joined them on the couch.

"Hey, Zac, could I talk to you for a sec in private?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah man, sure." Zac nodded as the two left the apartment.

"What's that all about?" Ashley asked.

"Beats me." Karl shrugged and they just continued to talk about whatever.

"Everything alright, dude?" Zac asked as they were far from his apartment door.

"Yeah, everything is cool." Kevin nodded.

"Okay..." Zac said slowly. "So, what did you want to talk about then."

"Well, I think you should know something."

"Okay." Zac said, still unsure of what Kevin was trying to get to.

"Well, obviously, you know I asked Nessa to switch partners so you could be her escort. But there's a reason for that." Zac nodded, signaling for him to continue. "Well, first off. You should know that Nessa and I broke up. A while ago. The same day she asked you to be her escort." Zac was shocked. "Don't worry. It was neutral. Anyways, I was the one who brought it up because well... you two should be together. I know you two are meant for each other. I can see it in your eyes. No one else knows that we broke up. We just figured we'd let everyone find out when they did, but I just really thought you should know." Kevin finished.

"Wow." was all Zac could say. "So you broke up with her because you though we should be together?" Zac asked.

"Yep." Kevin smiled.

"Am I really that obvious?" Zac laughed.

"You have no idea. Plus you two are so stubborn." Kevin laughed.

"Thanks man." Zac grinned.

_End of flashback.

* * *

_

"So, today is your 18th birthday. December 14th, 2006. And basically, I want to make this one of the best days ever for you. But I also have a secret to share with you that I really should've told you a long time ago. Yeah the gang knows what I'm talking about." Zac laughed. Zac smiled at the screen, while Vanessa turned to him confused, but turned back to the screen. The rest of the gang just watched the video, still unsure of what Zac was going to do, especially on video. "This is probably going to be one of the most embarrassing yet hardest things to do. But I'll cut right to it. All I want to say is that... I love you Vanessa Anne Hudgens. I truly do love you." Zac smiled to the camera before his face fadded, and the screen read "Happy 18th birthday Vanessa!"

Everyone in the hall cooed "Awww." Monique, Corbin, Ryne, Chris, Olesya, Ashley, and the rest of the court's jaws dropped in awe. They all knew Zac had liked her, but they were in awe that he had finally confessed it to her, and as well to everyone else. Mr. and Mrs. Hudgens smiled. They were the only two that knew Zac was going to do this because he had asked for their permission. Stella was jumping excitedly, after getting over her shock. Soon Ashley and the girls were as well.

Vanessa stood there. Totally shocked. She couldn't say anything. Zac had just confessed his love to her and she wasn't dreaming. It was all true. Zac watched her in shock, and smiled. His plan had worked. Vanessa was about to say something to Zac, but the music had begun. Their dances that they had been practicing forever were finally being performed. Vanessa desperately wanted to talk to Zac, but they were too focused on the dances.

After the dances had finished, it was time for the food. The court was served first, then the guests. Vanessa and Zac were sitting next to each other in the middle of the long table which displayed the court. Vanessa turned to him and was about to speak, but then he spoke first.

"I'll be back." He smiled. "And don't worry, I ate earlier, but I'll eat this in a little bit." Zac said getting up, and left the hall.

"But.. " Vanessa said softly. "Timing is never on my side is it?" Vanessa mumbled. Vanessa quickly ate her food before she was dragged off by her mother to go take pictures with _all _the guests. (a/n: if you're filipino like me, and you've been to a debut... you know what I mean by this. HAHA. They usually have to take pictures with EVERYONE.)

By the time Vanessa was finished, she walked back to her seat. Just as she was about to sit down, the emcee had called her.

"Would the lovely Miss Vanessa, please come down onto the dance floor!" Vanessa did as she was asked. She sat in the chair which was on the edge of the the dance floor. "Now, we've changed the programs a little bit. We've got a special surprise performance for you." The emcee said to Vanessa before turning back to the guests. "This performance is a never before seen thing, unless you took part of it, of course." The gang looked at each other confused. They thought they were going to do their small gift ceremony next. "Vanessa's escort, Zac, has planned this with a special guest here tonight." Vanessa couldn't help but smile. Zac had already confessed his love to her, but what was he up to now? "So, without further adieu I'd like to hand over the mic to Zac!" Everyone clapped their hands and Zac appeared out of nowhere, standing next to Vanessa.

"Good evening everyone." Zac greeted. "I um, hope you guys are enjoying yourselves so far." Zac chuckled.

"Yeah! Great video!" someone yelled.

"Thanks" Zac laughed. "If you all could hold on a moment.. I just need to get Vanessa a microphone really quick." Zac said, and someone came over to him with another mic. "Here you go Ness." Zac said into his mic.

"Thanks." Vanessa said in her microphone, unsure of why she had it.

"Alright. Well, you're all probably thinking, why is he giving her a microphone? Well, I just wanted to give her one." Zac laughed. "No. I'm kidding it's for afterwards... My partner wanted you to have one. But anyways, speaking of my partner, I met him a while ago, thanks to Vanessa here, and we instantly became friends. He's a cool guy, and I'm sure you guys are gonna love him. We've been hanging out together without Vanessa knowing because he wanted to do this for her. Yep. This was all his idea, and trust me, his mom doesn't even know. All she knew was that he was chillin' with me. Anyways, I just wanted to give him the credit because trust me, you'll all be surprised. He was kinda shy to do this at first, but then he broke out of his shell. Kind of like my character Troy in HSM. But anyways, you'll see. I don't want to ruin it for you all. So let's get this started!" Zac smiled.

Music began to play, and Zac started to sing to Vanessa. Zac paused, after the first verse, and the two tall oak doors opened once again. Out came Kyle in the same outfit as Zac, only his size. He started walking out with a microphone in one hand, and a rose in the other. He walked over to Vanessa and handed her the rose. She accepted it and kissed him on the cheek, which made him beam with joy. Suddenly he started singing. Vanessa broke into a grin, shocked at how well he could sing at such a young age, and at how cute they both looked matching. Everyone thought it was cute that Kyle was singing to her. Soon Zac joined him in the chorus, the rest of the verses Kyle sang on his own, and Zac only joined in during the chorus. Shortly, the song was finished, and everyone clapped. Vanessa had tears of joy beginning to fall.

"Happy birthday Vanessa!" Kyle said happily into his microphone.

"Thank you Kyle." She got up from her seat, and bent down to hug him.

"You're crying again! What's wrong?!" Kyle asked. Vanessa laughed, as well as everyone else in the hall.

"Nothing is wrong. I'm just happy that you sang for me." Vanessa said into the microphone.

"Good. I wanted to do something special for you!" Kyle smiled.

"Yeah, you did." Vanessa said. Everyone listening. "how long have you been singing?"

"I don't know. Zac heard me, and told me I was good." He shrugged, "So I asked him if I could sing for you here."

"Aww. You're such a sweetheart. And you're quite the ladies man." Vanessa said, and the hall laughed. "All you parents better watch out for your daughters. I think he's the future heartthrob." Vanessa giggled.

Then Kyle ran over to his grinning mother. She didn't know Kyle liked to sing.

"Thank you to you too Zac." Vanessa said into her microphone, before handing it back to the emcee. But she noticed that he had disappeared again. "Where did he go now?" Vanessa asked herself, as she handed the emcee the microphone back.

"Alright, now, don't you go anywhere just yet Vanessa. If you would just hold on a sec, we're gonna move your chair out a little further on the dance floor..." He said, picking up the chair and placing it towards the middle. "Okay, now you can sit." He laughed and she smiled and took a seat.

"Alright, now, on the program, next it says special ceremony." The emcee said. "Now, Vanessa knows about this, but she doesn't _know _about it. Am I right, Vanessa?" He asked her, pointing the mic to her.

"Uh, yeah." Vanessa looked at him.

"Well, your should be happy, because this was set up by your friends Julia, Ashley, Monique, Olesya, Ryne, Chirs, Corbin, Lucas, and Zac." He informed her. Soon, she saw all 9 of them, creating another semi circle, all with one hand behind their backs and another down their sides holding a microphone of their own. Vanessa smiled at them, curious as to what they were up to. "Ladies and gentlemen, as you may know." The emcee began, reading the cards Ashley had given him. "These 10 have been cast mates in their movie. They've grown as a family, all nine together, and loving the recent addition to their group, Julia. They've gone through everything together. And now, tonight, they wanted to do something special for Vanessa, knowing she would do the same for them. These nine have put a lot of thought into this, so let's get this going shall we?" The emcee said, before handing the microphone to Vanessa. Everyone clapped, and soon it died down.

"Hey Nessa!" Ashley giggled.

"Hey Ash!" Vanessa giggled as well.

"Well, you're probably wondering what we're up to, but we don't want you to talk until the end. So, if someone could please..." The emcee quickly walked over to Vanessa and she gave him the mic. "Thank you! Mmkay. It's not that we don't want to hear you or anything, we just can't have you holding anything.. Well you'll see." Ashley said.

"The past couple of months, we excluded you from our meetings and stuff in our rooms." Corbin said. "And we always said we were talking about what we were gonna get you for your birthday." Corbin laughed, and Vanessa laughed as well as all the other guests.

"Well, truth is, we weren't always." Lucas said. "Half of the time, we were all trying to plan that video speech thing you saw earlier tonight. We, as in the whole court."

"So, other than planning the video and getting all of that together, we _did _talk about what to get you. And honestly, we were stumped for so long. We wanted to get you different things, but then, we weren't sure about this and that.." Julia said.

"Yep, and right about now, you're probably thinking to yourself 'I thought they did get me presents, they already gave them to me, but they said I couldn't open them yet.' Which is true, because we all set them in the corner over there. But we're here for something else." Monique finished.

"We wanted to get you something more meaningful." Chris said. "So we thought, and thought, and thought. That was, until Ryne here came up with this brilliant idea."

"Trust me, you'll love it. Ryne came up with the idea, and we wanted to make it kinda like a little ceremony for you." Olesya smiled.

"Yes, and I was one of the last to know about this, but once I heard it, I thought it was awesome." Zac said.

"So, the gang and I spent our week off, well. Shopping. While you were working sadly." Ryne laughed. "But it was a good thing since you weren't there to find out what we were up to. Anyways, everyone said I should go first since it was my idea..." Ryne said, walking forwards to her. He pulled out a small box from behind his back, and handed it to Vanessa. She took it and opened it and couldn't help but laugh.

"Okay, so we went to a jewelry store, and well I got this one customized for you." Ryne said, pausing to pull the bracelet out of the box and put it on her. "For those of you who can't see, it's a bracelet with a happy meal charm on it. It represents that one time I bought you one, but it also symbolizes that we all want you to be happy too. Cheesy, I know, but I thought it would be cool if you had a happy meal charm." Ryne laughed. Vanessa stood up and hugged him, whispering thank you to him before sitting back down again. Ryne returned to his place, and Monique walked up to her, handing a small box as well. Vanessa opened it and found a charm with angel wings. Monique took it out of the box and attached it to the bracelet.

"I chose the angel wings for you because well, we all feel blessed to have you in our lives. You're one of the best friends we could ever ask for, and you're always watching out for us, as we do the same with you." Monique said. Vanessa hugged her and thanked her as well. Next was Lucas. She opened the box, and the same routine went with everyone else.

"I chose the charm with the theater masks because well, its how we all met; through acting. Without our acting careers, who knows if we would've met. I mean, you only knew Ashley!" Lucas joked, causing everyone to laugh, even Ashley.

"I chose the family charm." Olesya said, putting it onto the bracelet. "We've all grown, becoming a really tight family. I know how much we all mean to one another, and I know how much your parents and your sister mean to you as well."

"I chose the charm with an open hand." Corbin stepped forward, attaching it to her bracelet. Vanessa was already in tears. "It symbolizes how you're always there to lend a helping hand to anyone, whether they want to accept it or not, and we're always willing to help you whether you like it or not." Corbin said. He quickly ran over to a table and grabbed a napkin for her to wipe her tears. "See, I told ya." He grinned before taking his place once more.

This had continued on. Ashley had gotten a charm with a shopping bag because of her love for shopping. Chris got her a charm with a chocolate bar on it because they all knew how much she loved chocolate. Julia had chosen a charm with a music note because of her singing. And last but not least was Zac.

"Well, I guess it's my turn now isn't it?" Zac said walking towards her, and stopping in front of her. The gang had no idea what he was giving her. "Well, I would love to say that I've got a charm for you in this box, but I don't. See, the guy at the shop told us that the bracelet could only fit 8 charms, since your wrist is so tiny. So, Stella and I went back to the mall to look for something you'd like. She's the only one who actually knows what I got you because I chose it out and she approved of it." Zac said, handing her a box. Vanessa opened the box to reveal a simple diamond ring, hanging on a silver necklace. Zac grinned as her jaw dropped in awe. He turned to Stella was was grinning as well, giving him a quick thumbs up and he returned it.

"Oh my gosh." Vanessa gasped.

"Oh my goodness!" Ashley and the girls squealed in there places, covering their mouths.

"I'm assuming you like it." Zac smiled, taking it from her hands, and walking behind her. He undid the clasp and put it on for her. Vanessa put her hand over it as the ring laid over her chest, tears falling. She got up and turned to him, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Thank you, Zac." she whispered.

"Anytime Ness." He smiled, and walked back to his place.

"Alright everyone." Corbin said, the rest of the court began to rise from their seats, knowing what they were going to do. "Please feel free to join in if you want." Corbin said to everyone.

"Happy birthday to you.." The gang began, and the rest of the court chimed in. The rest of the guests caught on and began to sing along as well. The emcee wheeled out a small cake to Vanessa so that she could blow out a candle. The bigger cake was in the back of the room where all the other food was. "Happy birthday dear Vanessa... Happy birthday to you!" They all finished. Vanessa smiled, wiping the tears from her eyes. She closed her eyes and made a wish before blowing the candle out, and everyone cheered.

"Alright! Let's give a hand for these fabulous friends of Vanessa's" The emcee said. "Now, it's time for the 18 candles, so ladies, if you are one, please head out the oak doors for further direction, and we'll get this going in a few minutes." Vanessa's chair was taken away, so she could stand during this part. A few minutes passed and the emcee introduced the first candle.

"Okay. Our first candle tonight, is none other than the one and only, Mrs. Gina Hudgens, mother of Vanessa." The emcee said. Gina walked through the door, smiling, pausing to light her candle before taking the mic from the emcee to speak. Vanessa also had one.

"Hey honey." Gina smiled.

"Hey mom." Vanessa smiled back.

"Well, today, you're 18. You've grown up so much, but you'll always be my little girl." Gina began to tear up. "I've always tried to give you the best in life, and hopefully I have. You're always there to help us out around the house, willing to fly back home from work if anything is wrong. I'm blessed to have you as my daughter. You were a pain at times, but I don't care, because you always stopped and corrected yourself. I want to thank you for everything you've given me. I want you to know that I love you with all my heart. Happy birthday sweetheart." Gina said, crying.

"Aww, thanks mom." Vanessa ran over to hug her mother. And they both laughed. After they broke their embrace, Vanessa returned to her spot, and Gina walked over to her spot on the dance floor, holding her candle in front.

"Next up. Miss Stella Hudgens, Vanessa's little sister!" The emcee introduced. Stella walked out, and lit her candle, accepting the mic from the emcee before taking her place where her mother stood to give her speech.

"Hey Sissy."

"What up gangsta." Vanessa joked. "Just kidding. Hey Stellar."

"Wow. You must be tired of all these speeches you're getting from everyone." Stella laughed, as well as everyone else in the hall. "But too bad, I know you're loving tonight, especially after.." Stella began, but Gina hissed 'Stella'. "Uh, yeah, nevermind." Stella laughed, and Vanessa eyed her sister, assuming she knew what she was talking about. "Anywhoo, I'll make this quick. I just wanted to say happy birthday Nessa. You're the best big sister, and you're my best friend. You take me shopping and you take me on most of your trips and stuff. I'm grateful that you're always there for me and everything. So, again, happy birthday, and I love you!" Stella smiled, and handed the mic to the emcee before standing next to her mother. The rest of the candles gave their speeches. After their speeches, Vanessa walked up to them one by one, blowing out the candle, and giving each a hug. Once she was finished, the emcee began to speak again.

"Okay, Vanessa, I know you're probably tired from being out here for so long, and not being able to just sit and talk with your friends, but now it's time for your speech. Then we'll start the 18 roses ceremony, and that will lead us to the open dance floor so we can all dance the night away!" The emcee smiled.

"Thank you." Vanessa told him, as he handed her a microphone again. She turned back to face the guests which were on both sides of the dance floor, and the court's long table was in front of the dance floor. So, she decided she should face the court, so that her back was towards anyone. She took a deep breath before she began.

"Good evening everyone!" Vanessa smiled. "Wow, I haven't really had the chance to say much to anyone today since it's been so hectic getting ready and everything. But I hope all of you are enjoying yourselves tonight, especially after months of putting work into tonight. First off, I'd like to thank everyone for coming and celebrating this special day tonight with me and my family. It definitely means a lot to me; more than you know. Also, my parents. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't even know what a debut was because I pretty much lack the knowledge of my own heritage." Vanessa laughed, and so did everyone else. "But I am proud of who I am, and I'm taking the time to learn more about it. I'd say this experience has definitely taught me more about it. So, mom, dad, thank you so much for tonight. I love you both. Stella, you too!" Vanessa smiled, pointing to her. "Without you, I probably would have chosen some weird place to hold this event. And also, thanks for helping. I love ya sis. And to my court..." Vanessa turned to them. "You guys... you guys are simply amazing. I want to thank all of you for being a part of this. I think I've probably annoyed you all for saying thank you so much the past couple of weeks, but I'll say it again. Thank you! You guys are... gosh I can't even find the word." Vanessa searched.

"Fantasticalicious?" Zac called out to her, and she laughed.

"Yeah. Fantasticalicious, and more. Geez, you guys are never gonna let that one go, are you?" She gave them a look.

"No!" They all yelled together, smiling.

"Gee, thanks guys." Vanessa said sarcastically, and the guests all laughed. "Anyways, yeah without any of you, I don't think tonight would be as special. I'd also like to thank each and every one of you for coming, again. Some of you have taken the time to fly here tonight from all over the world. I never knew how many cousins and such I had around the world, but then again, my mom tells me that there's still more out there." Vanessa laughed. "But I love the fact that I'm getting the chance to meet my family. And to Mr. Kenny Ortega, and Chucky. Thank you for letting me use the facilities and having the shedule different so I could hold my rehearsals. As well as giving the chance of a lifetime for my friends to be part of the movie just so they could be with me to practice. And Chucky, thank you so much for choreographing with the dances that the girls needed help with." She said turning to them at the table they were seated at. "And I'd like to thank one more person, although I'd already thanked him on a more general sense, I'd really like to acknowledge none other than Zac Efron." She smiled turning to face him. Even though she was quite far from him across the dace floor, she looked directly into his eyes. "You." She smiled. "You're really one of the most amazing guys ever. You're so full of surprises, you make it look like you had planned more of tonight than I had." She laughed, causing him to grin. "But who knows, we might have just put equal amounts of work into this since you were there to help plan a lot of it. But I had no idea about the small performances and stuff. I want to thank you for everything, Zac. From being my escort and switching partners last minute, to putting up with me in general. Your my best friend, and I love everything we do together. You're always full of surprises, especially tonight." She winked. "So, thank you so much Zac." She finished, still looking at him.

The emcee announced for all the roses to gather behind the oak doors for their directions. All the guys on the court stood up and left, as well as some men from the guest crowd. Within a few minutes, Vanessa was standing in the middle of the dance floor, awaiting for the emcee to announce the first person.

"Ladies and Gentle men, our first of the 18 roses to share a dance with Vanessa, is Mr. Greg Hudgens, father of Vanessa." The emcee introduced. Greg walked through the tall oak doors, smiling as he walked towards Vanessa with a red rose. As he was walking to her, "Butterfly Kisses" began to play. They began to slow dance as they shared a father-daughter dance.

"That was a lovely speech hun." He said to her.

"Thanks dad." Vanessa said, tearing up.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked her.

"Nothing." She shook her head and smiled.

"Vanessa." He gave her a look as they continued to slow dance.

"It's nothing dad. I'm just happy that I actually get to have a father-daughter dance with you. It's just really special to me."

"Hey, if you want to dance, anytime, by all means, just say something." He laughed.

"Thanks dad." She laughed.

"So, how do you feel about what Zac said in his video?" He asked her. (a/n: I'm making it so they get the whole song to dance to since it's a father-daughter thing... just to let you know. )

"Dad." She gave him a look as he chuckled.

"What? Can't I know how my baby girl feels?" He looked at her.

"Fine." She caved, knowing she could talk to him about anything. "I was shocked that he said that. I had no idea. I just wish I could talk to him about it since I haven't had the chance to yet." She sighed.

"Don't worry hun, you will." He smiled at her assuringly. "By the way, just so you know, he told your mother and I first."

"What?" Vanessa looked at him confused.

"I don't know." he shrugged. "I guess it was kinda like asking for permission to love you... Kinda like when a man asks the father for the approval to marry the daughter. But Zac asked if he could declare his love for you.." Greg informed her.

"Are you serious?" She asked, and he nodded. "How cute." She breathed, her father unable to hear it through the loud music. "How did you and mom react?" She looked up to him, just as the song was finishing. Greg smiled and pulled her into a hug.

"He's the perfect guy for you Vanessa. Your mother and I both agree." He whispered to her.

"Thanks dad." She said to him before he began walking away to take his seat.

"Next up, we have Mr. David Efron, father to Vanessa's escort, Zac Efron." The emcee introduced. Mr. Efron walked out and handed Vanessa the rose, and she held them in her hand as they danced.

"Thank you for letting me be a part of this." He thanked her.

"No problem. A person picked to be a rose is usually someone significant, or important, in the girl's life at these types of things." Vanessa explained. "And you Mr. Efron, are definitely one of those who qualify in my life."

"Well, I am honored." He smiled. "But please, call me David, you still haven't gotten the hang of that yet." He grinned at her, knowing where Zac inherited his from.

"No, I haven't, sorry Mr. Ef... I mean David." Vanessa corrected herself.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, how exactly do I qualify?" He asked curious.

"Hm, well," She thought. "You're always nice and caring towards me whenever you hear something is wrong. Just like Zac. And you're a pretty cool dude. Plus, I love your cooking. And you're my best friend's dad. Not to mention, the dad of the guy who I've fallen for." Vanessa said.

"Ah, so you've fallen for Zac, huh?" He looked at her curiously.

"Yep." She just said simply, as they swayed to the music.

"Couldn't help but fall for his Efron Charm, eh? Yep. I remember pulling Starla into that..." David said, referring to his wife. Vanessa laughed, and his shoulder lightly.

"And next up, we have Dylan Efron, Zac's brother." The emcee said.

"Well, looks like our time is up. Happy birthday sweetie." David said, pulling her into a hug. Then Dylan walked out of the door with his rose, but stopped at the edge of the dance floor.

"Homie!" He called out, pointing at her.

"Homie!" Vanessa called back, pointing at him. This was there usual routine when they saw each other. Then all of a sudden they busted out the stupidest dance moves they could come up with at the moment. The hall burst into laughter, and the two stopped, not caring at how stupid they looked, and Dylan walked over to her laughing. He handed her the rose, and they began to dance to the song.

"We're so stupid." She laughed, as they slow danced.

"So." Dylan shrugged. "No one can stop us from our ritual." He laughed.

"So true. You can never stop and Dylan-Vanessa introduction." She laughed.

"Yep. So, how's it feel to be 18?" He asked.

"Hmm. It's not that great." She said. "Doesn't feel any different yet." She smiled.

"Nice." He chuckled. "So then how do you feel about my bro's love confession to you earlier?"

"You know everyone's been asking me that." Vanessa pointed out. "I still haven't had the chance to talk to him yet."

"That sucks."

"Tell me about it." Vanessa sighed.

"Next up, Mr. Corbin Bleu." The emcee said. Vanessa thanked Dylan for the dance, and accepted the rose from Corbin. They danced and talked as well. Soon after, the rest of the guys on the court came out, as well as a few other friends and family members. Vanessa's hands were full, with 17 roses, one more to go.

"Thank god, these don't have thorns anymore." Vanessa mumbled to herself, waiting for the emcee to announce the last person.

"And last, and of course not least, Mr. Zac Efron. After the song concludes, everyone, feel free to dance the night away, get food, and an extra piece of cake if you like." He added.

The tall oak doors opened, and Zac walked forward to her. She could feel herself blushing, a smile creeping onto her face. He was doing it all over again. He was making her feel like she was falling in love with him again. She never noticed it, but she finally realized that he made her feel like this everyday she saw him. Zac smiled at her, and handed her a white rose. She accepted it, and held it in her hand. His rose was the only white one in the bunch. He put his hand on her waist as she put her hand on his shoulder, then he grabbed the other hand which was holding all 18 roses. Vanessa drew their bodies closer, naturally, and laid her head on his chest.

"Happy birthday." He whispered to her.

"Thanks." She murmured, enjoying the moment. The song finished, and the two were still dancing. Many people were on the dance floor now, and neither of the two noticed. Vanessa lifted her head and looked into his eyes which were gazing into hers.

"Can we talk?" She asked. He nodded and she grabbed his hand with her free hand and lead him to the balcony which was now empty since everyone was eating, dancing, or talking. Vanessa handed Stella the 18 roses, who smiled and took them without a word, knowing her sister was desperately wanting to talk to Zac already. Vanessa held onto his hand tightly as she lead him, weaving through the tables, making sure she would have the chance to talk to him. Once they reached the balcony, Vanessa let go of his hand and leaned against the balcony's silver railing on the glass. She gazed out at the ocean, and Zac just stood behind her, not knowing what to say.

"Is that really how you feel?" Vanessa whispered, still looking out into the ocean. But Zac could hear her since they were the only two out there.

"Since day one." He simply answered, and Vanessa turned to look at him.

"I know it sounds crazy, but it was love at first sight. Ever since I met you at the audition, I knew it was you because I never felt anything like that feeling before. I couldn't get you out of my mind, and I still can't..." He paused, waiting for her to say something but she couldn't.

"What does your love mean to me  
It's something I can't answer easily  
Just like the air that I breathe  
You fill me up inside  
You give me all that I need  
Like a bird flying high on a summer's day  
You're the wind that carries me away  
To a place where you & i will always stay forever

If I never get to heaven then at least I will have known  
I had an angel here on earth that I could call my very own  
& if this world should end tomorrow  
This much I know is true  
I found my piece of heaven the day that I found you" He recited. (a/n: I dunno, I found that poem a long time ago and thought it was cute. I'm not sure who wrote it, soo, credit to whoever you are out there!)

"That poem basically explains how I feel for you... even if it is just 'friendship' love." He sighed, looking at her. She was crying silently. She knew he was nervous, and his words were a bit shaky, but she could tell he meant every word. She wanted to say something, but she couldn't find the words. Then he recited that poem, which topped it all off. Vanessa walked towards him, tears streaming down her face, and wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him into a kiss. Zac was caught off guard, but realized what was happening and kissed her back, putting his hands on her waist, pulling her closer. Finally they broke the kiss, still holding onto each other.

"I love you too." Vanessa smiled. "I feel the same way." Zac smiled and put his forehead to hers, sighing in relief that she had felt the same way.

"Thank goodness." He whispered, and Vanessa couldn't help but giggle, quickly pecking him on the lips.

"I'm sorry for not saying anything sooner..." Vanessa began.

"Shh. It's okay." He said, wiping the tears that had fallen off her cheek. "I'm sorry too, but it doesn't matter." He said soothingly and Vanessa nodded. "I just have one question, why didn't you tell me that you and Kev broke up?" He asked her.

"You know?" She looked at him and he nodded.

"Ness, I would never interfere with anyone's relationship. The day Kevin asked you out, was the same day I was gonna tell you how I felt. But then that phone call kinda got to you first, and yeah. But the other day, he told me that you two weren't together anymore, and haven't been for a while."

"I guess I just didn't want to ruin our friendship. I mean, we were just building it back, and I didn't want to loose you. I settled for having you as a friend that risking the chance of losing you. I mean, I almost did..." Vanessa began to cry again.

"You'll never loose me. Trust me." He assured her. "But one more question."

"Hmm?"

"Will you _finally_ be my girlfriend?" He asked.

"I thought you'd never ask." She smiled, as they leaned in for another kiss.

The whole gang, Stella, and the court had slipped through the doors and the two shared a sweet kiss without them noticing.

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" They all cheered, clapping and whistling. The two broke their kiss and turned to their friends, smiling from ear to ear.

"Thanks guys." Vanessa said sarcastically.

"Great timing." Zac said in the same tone.

"Okay, we just wanted to find you guys to come dance with us, but I think we'll leave you two alone." Ashley said, as they all filed through the door, screaming to everyone in the hall that Zac and Vanessa had finally gotten together. Stella was one of the last to leave and she turned to them as they were laughing at their friends.

"Hey, sis... you might wanna look at the ring closer.." Stella winked. "I think Zac forgot to mention that." She said before leaving.

Vanessa looked down at the ring that was hanging from the necklace and held it with both hands, as Zac still had his arms around her, not wanting to let go. And to be honest, Vanessa didn't want him to let go.

She looked closely at the ring and saw an engraving on the inside.

_I've fallen in love with you. And I always will love you. -Zac._

Vanessa smiled up at him as he just stared at her.

"Thank you." She said before kissing him once more.

"Well, it's true. And you're always welcome." He said.

Vanessa couldn't be any happier. It was her birthday, she was having a huge party with her family and friends, and to top it all off, she was finally with Zac. The walked back inside, and onto the dance floor just as a slow song came on. Zac couldn't believe it either. This time he wasn't dreaming.

"Pinch me, I hope this isn't a dream." He told her. Vanessa looked up at him and gave his a passionate kiss instead.

"I love you, Zac." She said afterwards.

"Okay, this is way better than a dream." He smiled. "I love you too, Vanessa."

* * *

Well, that's the END! Wow. haha it was hard to end it. Orignally this chapter was longer, but I cut it down. Sooo REVIEW PLEASE for one last time, and/or for the first time if you never have. LOL. I had fun with this story, and I hoped you guys enjoyed it. They're finally together! haha. I know how long some of you have been waiting for that.

&& as for leaving Fanfiction... I'm staying. Haha. Yes, thanks to you guys, I'm staying. And I mean that in a good way. A lot of you left messages asking me to stay, and I never really noticed how much of you guys actually liked my stories. So thanks to my constant regular readers/reviewers. Aslo, the weirdest think happened the other day. I like jotted down a bunch of new ideas for a new story... Soo, keep an eye out for my new story.. I'll try and get it up and going soon. I'll post something on this story as well, to let you guys know about it. But just a quick note, it won't be a sequel to this story. I figured that I'm not so good with sequels. LOL! Alright well, REVIEW PLEASE!!! thanks a bunch.


	30. YEAHYUH!

Hey guys, just wanted to give you guys a head's up. I've got my new story out already, so be sure to check it out! It's called "**Broken Young**". It's kinda based on a dream I had, but i just pasted in the HSM cast, and tweaked it around a little so it would be more story-like. Soo goo look for it! or just go look in my profile for it. haha. byee.


	31. SEQUEL!

HEY GUYS! Just wanted to let you all know that I've posted the SEQUEL since this one was so popular! Go look for it. It's called **My Heart's Dilemma**! Go and reaaaad!


End file.
